actio: speech delivery, with fitting voice(s), posture and gesture; the fifth and last part of the “classical canon.”
adiunctio: is when a verb holding a sentence together is positioned at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. Her. 4.38; Lausberg §743.
adnominatio: 1. Juxtaposition of two words with different meaning but similar sound. Lausberg §637; or 2. Repetition of different words from the same root. Lausberg §648.6.
adynaton: an exaggeration so extreme as to be impossible.
alliteration: repetition of initial sound in consecutive words.
amplificatio: emotional enhancement of facts. Lausberg §259.
anacoluthon: grammatical incongruence caused by the switch from one syntactical structure to another.
anaphora: word repetition at the beginning of consecutive units. Lausberg §629.
anastrophe: inversion of the expected order of consecutive words. Lausberg §713.
anticipatio: setting up defense to prevent an expected attack from the opponent. Lausberg §§854–5.
antistasis: repetition of the same word with different meaning. Lausberg §661.
antithesis: juxtaposition of opposites.
antonym: opposite in meaning.
apostrophe: turning away from the audience to address a second audience. Lausberg §762.
aprosdoketon: unexpected end replacing an expected one.
assonance: repetition of similar sounds in consecutive words.
asyndeton: connecting words without conjunctions. Lausberg §709.
brachylogy: concise expression.
captatio benevolentiae: catching the good will of the audience.
chiasmus: ordering words in AB BA pattern.
clausula: end of a colon.
climax (climactic, climactically): words following in ascending or descending order of strength.
colon (plural, cola): unit of thought of at least two words and about 5–15 syllables.
commoratio: emphatic repetition of a concept with different words. Lausberg §835.
comprobatio: complimenting the audience to win support.
concessio: conceding a point to the opponent. Lausberg §856.
confirmatio: part of the speech where proofs are laid out. Lausberg §430.
confutatio (aka refutatio): part of the speech where the opponents’ arguments are rebuked.
conquestio: words that win favor by eliciting pity. Lausberg §439.
correctio: rectifying your own word or sentence. Lausberg §784.
cumulus: disorderly heaping up of arguments. Lausberg §443.
deliberatio: pondering advice, arguments and solutions.
digressio: excursus that strengthens the point.
dilemma: offering to the opponent two or more choices that are all self-incriminating. Lausberg §393.
dispositio: arranging arguments found in the inventio; second part of the “classical canon.” Lausberg §443.
disiunctio: consecutive cola emphatically expressing the same idea with different words. Lausberg §739.
effictio: description of physical appearance.
ellipsis: word omission.
elocutio: choosing fitting words, figures and style for the arguments found in the inventio and arranged in the dispositio; the third part of the “classical canon.”
emphasis: stressing by implying more than is stated. Lausberg §578.
enumeratio: anticipating or summarizing subheadings. Lausberg §§347, 434.
epanalepsis: beginning and ending a unit with the same word(s). Lausberg §625.
epiphora: word repetition at the end of consecutive units. Lausberg §631.
epiphonema: witty saying, sententia, recapitulating a thought. Lausberg §879.
euphemism: positive or neutral words expressing something unpleasant.
evidentia: vivid and visual description. Lausberg §810.
exclamatio: emotional and self-contained exclamation. Lausberg §809.
exemplum: example.
exordium: beginning of a speech. Lausberg §263.
expolitio: elaboration of a concept by repeating or developing it through different words. Lausberg §830.
hapax: a word occurring only once.
hendiadys: one concept in two words coordinated by “and.”
homoioteleuton: successive words or cola ending with the same sound. Lausberg §725.
hyperbaton: separation of two words that agree. Lausberg §716. E.g. hos retinet ambo, 17.1.
hyperbole: vivid exaggeration beyond belief. Lausberg §909.
hypotaxis: construction with subordinates rather than coordinates.
hysteron proteron: chronological inversion, placing first what happened second and second what happened first.
indignatio: eliciting audience hatred toward an opponent. Lausberg §438.
insinuatio: means of captivating the audience by concealment (especially in the exordium). Lausberg §280.
intellection (aka synecdoche): mentioning a part for the whole or vice versa. Lausberg §572.
inventio: finding arguments; first part of the “classical canon.” Lausberg §260.
ironia (ex contrario): saying one thing meaning its opposite. Lausberg §582.
isocolon: coordinated cola of similar length and structure. Lausberg §719.
iteration: repetition of the same word. Lausberg §616.
litotes: negating the opposite. E.g. “not bad” meaning good. Lausberg §586.
locus: commonplace. Lausberg §§260, 373.
locus a causa: considering the motive for a deed. Lausberg §379.
locus a comparatione: ranking by comparison. Lausberg §395.
memoria: having a good grasp on the speech; the fourth part of the “classical canon.”
metaphor: short comparison by association of unrelated words. E.g. “he is a lion” for “he is as strong/courageous as a lion.” Lausberg §558.
metonymy: substitution of associated words. E.g. “Venus” for “love.” Lausberg §565.
narratio: exposition of real or alleged facts to support the thesis; part of the speech. Lausberg §289.
oxymoron: association of contradictory words. E.g. loud silence. Lausberg §807.
paromoiosis: sequence of words ending with the same sound (homoioteleuton) and in the same case. Lausberg §732.
parataxis: construction with coordinates rather than subordinates.
pathos (pathetic) emotion.
periphrasis: paraphrasing one word with more words. E.g. “foedissimus tribunus plebis” for Clodius (7.16). Lausberg §589.
permissio: the gesture of surrendering to the audience, while in fact pressing one’s own point. Lausberg §857.
peroratio: conclusion of a speech. Lausberg §431.
personification: allotting human traits to nonhuman entities.
pleonasm (cf. redundancy): unnecessary and emphatic repetition. Lausberg §503.
polyptoton: repetition of the same word in different grammatical forms. Lausberg §643.
praeteritio: emphasizing something by stating to pass over it. E.g. I will not mention that you promised. Lausberg §882.
prolepsis (proleptic): anticipation. Lausberg §855.
pronominatio: use of an appellative or periphrasis for a proper name. E.g. “the orator” for Cicero or “Caesoninus, descendant of Calventius” for Piso. Lausberg §580.
propositio: anticipatory summary. Lausberg §289.
recapitulatio: repetition for recapitulation. Lausberg §434.
redundancy (cf. pleonasm): unnecessary and emphatic repetition.
reduplicatio: repetition of a word at the end and at the beginning of two subsequent units. Lausberg §619.
refutatio: see confutatio.
repetitio: emotional repetition of words separated by a few words. Lausberg §618.
rhetorical question: question expecting an answer that is not given.
rhyme: sound repetition at the end of words.
ring composition: beginning and ending with the same concept/words.
sermocinatio: attributing words to animals or inanimate entities. Lausberg §820.
simile: associating words through “like,” “as,” etc. Lausberg §422.
synonym: different words with same meaning.
synkrisis: comparison.
traductio: repetition of different forms from the same word. Lausberg §647.
transitio: connection between different parts of a speech. Lausberg §849.
tricolon: sequence of three cola of similar structure or length. Lausberg §733.
variatio: artistic variation.
zeugma: one word governing various units without being repeated; e.g. Lausberg §692, 745.