periodic sentence

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Related to periodic sentence: loose sentence, Cumulative sentence

periodic sentence

A sentence in which the main clause or its predicate is withheld until the end; for example, Despite heavy winds and nearly impenetrable ground fog, the plane landed safely.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

periodic sentence

(ˌpɪərɪˈɒdɪk)

(Rhetoric) rhetoric a sentence in which the completion of the main clause is left to the end, thus creating an effect of suspense

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pe′ri•od′ic sen′tence

(ˈpɪər iˈɒd ɪk, ˌpɪər-)
n.

a sentence that, by leaving the completion of its main clause to the end, produces an effect of suspense, as in All alone in the world, without any money, he died.

Compare loose sentence.

[1895–1900]

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Noun

periodic sentence - a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause

complex sentence - a sentence composed of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause

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References in periodicals archive ?

In Book III of his Rhetoric, Aristotle discusses the rhetorical advantage of periodic sentences. Unlike a more "strung-on" style, the progression of the periodic sentence leads the reader to the emphatic and pivotal ending.

Spacious fields: Alexander Hamilton and the rhetoric of sentence architecture

A sharp metaphor strikes home, an unusual word catches a perceptive meaning, a long periodic sentence that holds the pieces together in elegant balance draws readers along.

Literary learning in the hyperdigital age: Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein is fighting to preserve literary thought in an age of digital distraction

This book is an extended celebration of an approach to literary composition that privileges spatial patterning of texts, notably through antithesis and repetition, on the basis of the ancient rhetoricians' conception of the periodic sentence. In Eriksen's view, this approach, requiring "topomorphic reading," is both widespread in classical antiquity and consciously developed, even theorized, in ancient writings on rhetoric.

The Building in the Text: Alberti to Shakespeare and Milton. (Reviews)

In the same vein the periodic sentence is mentioned, but its inherent power is not explained.