epitasis
noun/ɪˈpɪtəsɪs/
Etymology From Ancient Greek ἐπίτασις (epítasis, “stretching”), from ἐπιτείνω (epiteínō, “to stretch”), from ἐπί (epí) + τείνω (teínō, “stretch”).
1
The second part of a play, in which the action begins.
- How my uncle Toby and Corporal Trim managed this matter,—with the history of their campaigns, which were no way barren of events,—may make no uninteresting under-plot in the epitasis and working up of this drama.1760, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Penguin, published 2003, page 88:
- It doubles itself in the middle of his life, reflects itself in another, repeats itself, protasis, epitasis, catastasis, catastrophe.1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
2
Rhetoric The addition of a concluding sentence that merely emphasizes what has already been stated.
3
Obsolete The period of violence in a fever or disease; paroxysm.
- Related terms
- protasis, catastasis, catastrophe