chiasmus
/kaɪˈæzməs/noun
chiasmus is spelled C-H-I-A-S-M-U-S: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chiasmus means “An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chiasmus is chiasmi or chiasmuses.
How many letters and syllables are in chiasmus?
| Letters | 8: C-H-I-A-S-M-U-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 36 million words; the 184,844th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is chiasmus?
Chiasmus appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chiasmus?
- /kaɪˈæzməs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chiasmus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chiasmus
- chiasmi plural
- chiasmuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chiasmus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chiasmus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (rhetoric) an inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chiasmus come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin chiasmus, borrowed from Ancient Greek χιασμός (khiasmós), from χῑᾰ́ζω (khīắzō, “to mark with an X”) + -μός (-mós).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).