different between circumlocution vs suspense

English

Etymology

From Latin circumloc?ti? (“the act of speaking around; circumlocution, periphrasis”). Surface analysis circum- (“around”) +? locution (“talk”), thus "getting around (a problem) in speaking or writing". Probably a calque of Ancient Greek ?????????? (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??k?ml??kju???n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?k?ml??kju??n/
• Rhymes: -u???n
• Hyphenation: cir?cum?lo?cu?tion

Noun

circumlocution (countable and uncountable, plural circumlocutions)

1. (uncountable) A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:
   1. (uncountable) Unnecessary use of extra words to express an idea, such as a pleonastic phrase (sometimes driven by an attempt at emphatic clarity) or a wordy substitution (the latter driven by euphemistic intent, pedagogic intent, or sometimes loquaciousness alone).
   2. (uncountable) Necessary use of a phrase to circumvent either a vocabulary fault (of speaker or listener) or a lexical gap, either monolingually or in translation.

2. (countable) An instance of such usage; a roundabout expression, whether an inadvisable one or a necessary one.

Synonyms

• periphrasis
• ambages

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• beat around the bush
• go around the houses
• euphemism
• mince words, mince matters
• equivocation (the use of expressions susceptible of a double signification, possibly intentionally and with the aim of misleading)
• evasive (tending to avoid speaking openly or making revelations about oneself)
• prevarication (evasion of the truth; deceit, evasiveness)
• hedge (to avoid verbal commitment)
• waffle (to speak or write vaguely and evasively; to speak or write at length without any clear point or aim)

English

Alternative forms

• suspence (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English suspense, suspence, from Anglo-Norman suspens (as in en suspens) and Old French suspens, from Latin susp?nsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??sp?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Noun

suspense (usually uncountable, plural suspenses)

1. The condition of being suspended; cessation for a time.
2. the pleasurable emotion of anticipation and excitement regarding the outcome or climax of a book, film etc.
3. The unpleasant emotion of anxiety or apprehension in an uncertain situation.
   • 1656, John Denham, The Destruction of Troy

     Ten days the prophet in suspense remain'd.

4. (law) A temporary cessation of one's right; suspension, as when the rent or other profits of land cease by unity of possession of land and rent.

Derived terms

• suspenseful

Translations

Adjective

suspense (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Held or lifted up; held or prevented from proceeding.
2. (obsolete) Expressing, or proceeding from, suspense or doubt.

French

Etymology 1

Nominalisation of the feminine form of suspens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sys.p??s/

Noun

suspense f (plural suspenses)

1. suspense (state of being suspended)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English suspense, itself from Old French suspense. Doublet of suspens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sys.p?ns/

Noun

suspense m (plural suspenses)

1. suspense (emotion; feeling)

Further reading

• “suspense” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Etymology

From French suspense, from English suspense.

Noun

suspense m (plural suspenses)

1. suspense
2. thriller

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English suspense.

Noun

suspense f (invariable)

1. suspense (all senses)

Latin

Participle

susp?nse

1. vocative masculine singular of susp?nsus

References

• suspense in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• suspense in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Portuguese

Noun

suspense m (plural suspenses)

1. suspense (the excited anticipation of an outcome)
2. (fiction) thriller (a suspenseful, sensational genre of fiction)

Spanish

Etymology

From French suspense, from English suspense.

Noun

suspense m (plural suspenses)

1. (Spain) suspense

   Synonym: (Latin America) suspenso

2. thriller

Derived terms

• novela de suspense (“thriller”) (novel genre)
• película de suspense (“thriller”) (film genre)