merism

merism
merism (n.) 1894 in biological sense "repetition of parts in living things;" earlier in rhetoric, "synecdoche in which totality is expressed by contrasting parts" (e.g. high and low, young and old); from Mod.L. merismus, from Gk. merismos "a dividing, division, a partition," from merizein "to divide," from meros "part, share" (see MERIT (Cf. merit) (n.)). Related: Merismatic.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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