Word of the Day: Asyndeton.


Noun
1. The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

Example Sentences.
1. "A famous example of asyndeton is Julius Caesar's line, 'I came, I saw, I conquered.'"
2. "The poet created a sense of urgency with asyndeton in the last few lines of the sonnet."
3. "The asyndeton was intentional, but my editor thought I forgot the conjunction."

Word Origin.
Greek, mid-16th century

A conjunction is a part of speech that joins two words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinating conjunctions ("for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," and "so") join parts of equal importance. Subordinating conjunctions ("because," "although," "if," "unless," etc.) show a relationship between independent and dependent clauses. Now that we've gotten the grammar lesson out of the way, let's talk about asyndeton, which throws conjunctions out the window.