| Figure Name | cataphasis |
| Source | Silva Rhetoricae (http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Silva.htm); Bullinger (1898) ("cataphasis; or, affirmation") |
| Earliest Source | None |
| Synonyms | affirmation |
| Etymology | cat-aph'-a-sis, Gr. "an affirmation" or "affirmative proposition" from kata "down" and phasis "a speaking" from phanai "to say" |
| Type | Chroma |
| Linguistic Domain |
Semantic |
| Definition |
1. A kind of paralipsis in which one explicitly affirms the negative qualities that one then passes over. (Silva Rhetoricae) 2. Addition of Insinuation (stated) by way of Reasoning... In this case the insinuation is added, not negatively, but positively: e.g., "I pass by his deceit," etc., and thus the insinuation as to his deception. (Bullinger, 494) |
| Example |
1. I will say nothing here of his fraudulent practices. (Silva Rhetoricae) |
| Kind Of | Omission Addition Opposition |
| Part Of | |
| Related Figures | irony, paralipsis |
| Notes | |
| Confidence | Unconfident |
| Last Editor | Ioanna Malton |
| Confidence | Unconfident |
| Editorial Notes | fixed synonyms, related figures |
| Reviewed | No |