anthimeria
Apr. 10th, 2026 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordanthimeria or antimeria - (rhetoric) n., the use of a word from one part of speech as if it were another.
In English, most commonly using a noun as a verb, as in "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle" -- Shakespeare, Richard II, act II, sc.iii, l.95. Indeed, many of the 1500+ word coinages that Shakespeare is credited for were anthimeria. In linguistics, the more common term is zero derivation, deriving a word from one of another part of speech without modification. Like most terms from rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek, from antí, opposite + méros, part.
---L.
In English, most commonly using a noun as a verb, as in "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle" -- Shakespeare, Richard II, act II, sc.iii, l.95. Indeed, many of the 1500+ word coinages that Shakespeare is credited for were anthimeria. In linguistics, the more common term is zero derivation, deriving a word from one of another part of speech without modification. Like most terms from rhetoric, this is from Ancient Greek, from antí, opposite + méros, part.
---L.
