parenthesis
Pluralparentheses
- 1One of the two curved marks ( and ) used to add extra information in writing.
Like little fences around words, keeping a side note separate from the rest of the sentence.
Don't forget to close the parenthesis at the end of your note.
She put the date in parentheses after each person's name.
Similarbracket
Note
- 2Extra words put into a sentence to explain something, usually marked with brackets, commas, or dashes.
Like a quick whisper in the middle of a story: a small extra note before going back to the main idea.
The writer added a short parenthesis to explain who the visitor was.
In her speech, she slipped in a parenthesis about her childhood before returning to the main point.
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Note
- 3Curved brackets used in math to show which parts of a problem belong together.
Like putting things in one box so you know they go together.
First do the part of the problem inside the parentheses.
He forgot the closing parenthesis, so his answer to the math problem was wrong.
Similarbracket
Note
- 4A break from the main subject in talk or writing, before coming back to it.
Like stepping off a path to look at something, then stepping back on.
After a long parenthesis about his vacation, the teacher returned to the lesson.
Her story was full of parentheses about people we had never met.
Similardigression, aside, tangent
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of parenthesis apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Greek, through Late Latin, from a word meaning "insertion."