Meiosis (figure of speech) 183649 213815607 2008-05-20T22:49:27Z 70.108.24.12 /* Examples */ {{for|the method of cell division|meiosis}} In [[rhetoric]], '''meiosis''' is a [[figure of speech]] that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is. Meiosis is the opposite of [[auxesis]], and is also sometimes used as a [[synonym]] for [[litotes]]<ref>Encarta World English Dictionary (1999)</ref><ref>The Times English Dictionary (2000)</ref><ref name="oed">OED 1st edition</ref> The term is derived from the Greek ''mei-o-o'' (“to make smaller”, "to diminish"). ==Examples== *"[[The Troubles]]" as a name for decades of violence in Northern Ireland. *A lawyer defending a schoolboy who has set fire to his school might call the act of arson a "prank", in this case using meiosis in an attempt to diminish the significance of the act (actually, grand [[arson]]) to the level of a harmless joke or minor act of [[vandalism]]. * "The Recent Unpleasantness" used in Southern American idiom to refer to the American Civil War and its aftermath ==See also== *[[Auxesis]] *[[Figure of speech]] *[[Litotes]] *[[Paradiastole]] *[[Euphemism]] ==References== * {{cite web | last = Burton | first = Gideon O. | title = Meiosis | work = Silva Rhetoricae | url = http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/M/meiosis.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-24 }} * {{cite web | title = Meiosis | work = The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/15/M0201500.html | accessdate = 2006-12-24 }} <references/> [[Category:Rhetorical techniques]] [[bs:Mejoza (figura)]] [[hr:Mejoza (figura)]] [[mk:Мејоза (стилистика)]]