auxesis

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐξησις (auxēsis, growth), from αὐξάνειν (auxánein, to grow).

Noun

auxesis (countable and uncountable, plural auxeses)

  1. (rhetoric) A rhetorical device whereby the subject matter is made greater, particularly
    1. (rhetoric) Overstatement, hyperbole.
      • 1577, Henry Peacham, Garden of Eloquence:
        Avxesis, when we vse a greater word for a lesse, or thus, when the word is greater then the thing is in deede.
    2. (rhetoric, obsolete) Arrangement of a series in ascending order.
  2. (biology) Biological growth, (now usually restricted to) expansion or growth of an organism apart from that due to cellular division.
    • 1842, R. Dunglison, Medical Lexicon:
      Auxesis, augmentation, increase.
    • 1940 November 9, Nature, 618/1:
      Botanists do still distinguish between auxesis or growth by expansion, and merisis or growth by cell-multiplication.
  3. (chemistry) The condition of being auxetic

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.