%strophe%

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to turn to the opposite side; 'anti` against + &unr_; to turn. See Strophe. ] 1. In Greek choruses and dances, the returning of the chorus, exactly answering to a previous strophe or movement from right to left. Hence: The lines of this part of the choral song. [ 1913 Webster ]

It was customary, on some occasions, to dance round the altars whilst they sang the sacred hymns, which consisted of three stanzas or parts; the first of which, called strophe, was sung in turning from east to west; the other, named antistrophe, in returning from west to east; then they stood before the altar, and sang the epode, which was the last part of the song. Abp. Potter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Rhet.) (a) The repetition of words in an inverse order; as, the master of the servant and the servant of the master. (b) The retort or turning of an adversary's plea against him. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ (1) L., fr. Gr. &unr_; a turning away, fr. &unr_; to turn away; &unr_; from + &unr_; to turn. (2) F., fr. L. apostrophus apostrophe, the turning away or omitting of a letter, Gr. &unr_;. ] 1. (Rhet.) A figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of “Paradise Lost.” [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) The contraction of a word by the omission of a letter or letters, which omission is marked by the character [ ' ] placed where the letter or letters would have been; as, call'd for called. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The mark [ ' ] used to denote that a word is contracted (as in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as a sign of the possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat, boys' hats. In the latter use it originally marked the omission of the letter e. [ 1913 Webster ]

The apostrophe is used to mark the plural of figures and letters; as, two 10's and three a's. It is also employed to mark the close of a quotation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Astrofel. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; turning like oxen in plowing; &unr_; to turn. ] An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to the boustrophedon made of writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. catastropha, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to turn up and down, to overturn; kata` down + &unr_; to turn. ] 1. An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. [ 1913 Webster ]

The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The final event in a romance or a dramatic piece; a denouement, as a death in a tragedy, or a marriage in a comedy. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geol.) A violent and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., from Gr. &unr_; a return, epanastrophe; 'epi` + &unr_; to return. ] (Rhet.) Same as Anadiplosis. Gibbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., from Gr. &unr_; a turning toward, return, fr. &unr_; to turn toward; 'epi` upon, to + &unr_; to turn. ] (Rhet.) A figure in which successive clauses end with the same word or affirmation; e. g., “Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I.” 2 Cor. xi. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to turn round or back; &unr_; under + &unr_; to turn. ] (Med.) (a) The act of a patient turning himself. (b) A relapse, or return of a disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. mono`strofos monostrophic. ] A metrical composition consisting of a single strophe. [ 1913 Webster ]