peroration

peroration

English

Etymology

From Latin perōrō (“I speak at length, I conclude a speech”) (from per- (“very”) + ōrō (“I speak, I orate”) (English orate)) + -ation (“action (nominalizer)”) (from Latin -ātiō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛɹɒˈɹeɪʃən/

  Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

peroration (countable and uncountable, plural perorations)

1. The concluding section of a discourse, either written or oral, in which the orator or writer sums up and commends his topic to his audience, particularly as used in the technical sense of a component of ancient Roman oratorical delivery.
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:

     This passage is virtually the peroration of the Ethics; the few paragraphs that follow are concerned with the transition to politics.

   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), page 480:

     The young man achieved perfect timing, for the last word of his peroration coincided with the muffled clap of the doors closing, after having launched the coffin onto the rails of a subterranean railway.

2. A discourse or rhetorical argument in general.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     Nephew, what means this passionate discourse,
     This peroration with such circumstance?

Related terms

• oration

Translations

conclusion of a discourse

Bulgarian: резюме (bg) n (rezjume) French: péroraison (fr) f German: Zusammenfassung (de) f, Redeschluss m Greek: Ancient: ἐπίλογος m (epílogos) Occitan: perorason f Swedish: sammanfattning (sv)