chiasmus

(kī az′məs)

noun pl. chiasmi

Rhetoric inversion of the second of two parallel phrases, clauses, etc. (Ex.: she went to Paris; to New York went he)

Origin: ModL < Gr chiasmos: see chiasma

Related Forms:

See chiasmus in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. chi·as·mi (-mīˌ)

A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in “Each throat/Was parched, and glazed each eye” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

Origin:

Origin: New Latin chīasmus

Origin: , from Greek khīasmos, syntactic inversion

Origin: , from khīazein, to invert or mark with an X; see chiasma

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