hyperbaton (hye-PUR-buh-ton), noun, plural hyperbatons, hyperbata

   The use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the
   expected or usual one, as in "Bird thou never wert.'

[Greek huperbaton, from neuter of huperbatos, transposed, from huperbainein,
to step over : huper-, over, across + bainein, to step.]

   "`Out from him sprang the sun and the moon; from man, the sun; from woman,
   the moon.' This deliberate inversion of expected logic is one of many
   uses of hyperbaton in the essay.
   Eric Wilson, Weaving: Breathing: Thinking: The poetics of Emerson's Nature,
   ATQ, Mar 1996.

This week's theme: words about words.

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