| ellipsis (…) |
| Definition: The symbol … as used to indicate missing words in a sentence. Note: Though this sense is obsolete now, the term ellipsis once denoted the dash (—) when it was used to indicate the omitting of letters in a word. |
| Usage:
1. Use ellipsis to show the omission of words, phrases, or lines from quoted material. He said … and then left the room. 2. Use ellipsis followed by the sentence's ending punctuation mark (e.g., a period or an exclamation mark) to show that the last part of the sentence has been omitted. He said nothing and … . 3. If you want the sentences to trail off, end it with ellipsis but omit the terminating punctuation. The world will end not with a bang but with … |
| Etymology: The word derives from the Greek elleipsis, a leaving out (from en, in + leipein, to leave). |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The first OED citation for the word in its punctuation sense is from 1824: "An Ellipsis … is used, when some letters in a word, or some words in a verse, are omitted: as ‘The k—g’ for ‘the king’." (L. Murray Eng. Gram. I. 413) |