PARENTHESIS (parentheses)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: parentheses   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does parenthesis mean? 

• PARENTHESIS (noun)
  The noun PARENTHESIS has 2 senses:

1. either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material

2. a message that departs from the main subject

  Familiarity information: PARENTHESIS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARENTHESIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("parenthesis" is a kind of...):

punctuation; punctuation mark (the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A message that departs from the main subject

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

aside; digression; divagation; excursus; parenthesis

Hypernyms ("parenthesis" is a kind of...):

content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)

Derivation:

parenthetic; parenthetical (qualifying or explaining; placed or as if placed in parentheses)

 Context examples 

NOTE(S): A criterion group represents the parentheses around a set of criteria in a logical expression.

(Defined Criterion Group, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

A relationship between a planned criterion group and a planned activity, planned observation result or other planned criterion group that is a component, i.e. a relationship between a logical set of parenthesis and one of the items inside the parentheses.

(Planned Criterion Group Composition Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

A relationship between a planned criterion group and an option that can satisfy it, either a planned activity, a planned observation result or another planned criterion group, i.e. a relationship between a logical set of parenthesis and one of the options inside the parentheses.

(Planned Criterion Group Option Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

EXAMPLE(S): (A and (B or C)), where A might be an activity, B and C might be 2 different observation results, and the two sets of parentheses are 2 criterion groups, one inside (a component of) the other.

(Planned Criterion Group, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

A relationship between a criterion group and an activity, observation result or other criterion group that is a component of the group, i.e. a relationship between a logical set of parenthesis and one of the items inside the parentheses, where the criterion group and its components are both part of a global library of activities.

(Defined Criterion Group Composition Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

A relationship between a criterion group and an option that can satisfy it, either an activity, observation result or other criterion group, i.e. a relationship between a logical set of parenthesis and one of the options inside the parentheses, where the criterion group and its option are both part of a global library of activities.

(Defined Criterion Group Option Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

But I apprehend that we were personally fortunate in engaging a servant with a taste for cordials, who swelled our running account for porter at the public-house by such inexplicable items as quartern rum shrub (Mrs. C.); Half-quartern gin and cloves (Mrs. C.); Glass rum and peppermint (Mrs. C.)—the parentheses always referring to Dora, who was supposed, it appeared on explanation, to have imbibed the whole of these refreshments.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

EXAMPLE(S): EXAMPLE(S):(A and (B or C)), where A might be an activity, B and C might be 2 different observation results, and the two sets of parentheses are 2 criterion groups, one inside (a component of) the other.

(Defined Criterion Group, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)