parenthesis
Aside-marking punctuation mark
A parenthesis is one of a pair of curved marks ( ) used to enclose supplementary or clarifying material: The result (see Table 3) was unexpected.
The term also refers to the material enclosed: a brief parenthesis about her childhood.
In the plural, parentheses names the punctuation marks themselves.
Figuratively, a parenthesis is any digression or interlude: a parenthesis in his career.
Brief theatrical digression
- digressionVeering off topic
- interjectionEmotional outcry word class
- tangentLine touching curve once
- detourAlternate path around obstruction
excursus · interpolation · commentary · appositive · afterthought · qualification · amplification · clarification
Brief theatrical digression
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- stage whisperLoud whisper for spectators
- monologueUninterrupted solo address
- direct addressSpeaking to someone named
Support or category
- round bracketCurved punctuation mark pair
- delimitersCharacters marking boundaries
- syntaxRules for arranging words
- grammarLanguage's structural rules
comma · dash · quotation mark · semicolon · colon · apostrophe · ellipsis · hyphen
Citation at page bottom
- annotationAdded explanatory comment
- glossShine or annotation
- addendumSupplementary text at end
- postscriptEnd-of-letter addition
commentary · explanatory note · citation · reference · supplement · authorial intrusion · sidebar
Mathematical equality assertion
- algebraMath using symbols
- order of operationsMathematical calculation sequence
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- groupingArrangement by shared traits
brackets · distributive property · coordinates · factoring · polynomial · tuple · argument · parameter
aside
Brief theatrical digression
- digressionVeering off topic
- interjectionEmotional outcry word class
- tangentLine touching curve once
detour · excursus · interpolation · commentary · appositive · afterthought · qualification · amplification · clarification · elaboration
aside
Brief theatrical digression
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- stage whisperLoud whisper for spectators
- monologueUninterrupted solo address
direct address · sotto voce · ad lib · interpolation · dramatic pause
bracket
Support or category
- round bracketCurved punctuation mark pair
- delimitersCharacters marking boundaries
- syntaxRules for arranging words
grammar · comma · dash · quotation mark · semicolon · colon · apostrophe · ellipsis · hyphen · period
footnote
Citation at page bottom
- annotationAdded explanatory comment
- glossShine or annotation
- addendumSupplementary text at end
postscript · commentary · explanatory note · citation · reference · supplement · authorial intrusion · sidebar
equation
Mathematical equality assertion
- algebraMath using symbols
- order of operationsMathematical calculation sequence
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
grouping · brackets · distributive property · coordinates · factoring · polynomial · tuple · argument · parameter · precedence
- punctuationperiod, comma, colon, apostrophe, semicolon
- marksmark, blemish, blotch, stroke, seal of approval
- symbolssymbols, runes, symbol, asterisks, national symbol
- bracketsangle bracket, square brackets, square bracket, curly braces, curly brace
- digressionsdigression, tangent, aside, sidetrack, detour
- regexregex, pattern, match, quantifier, anchor
parenthesiscontinuation
Act of proceeding further
continuity · flow · run · progression · continuum
parenthesismain clause
Self-sufficient sentence portion
core argument · main thread · body · thesis · body text
- in parenthesisEnclosed by curved punctuation marks