battology

Definition

Continual unnecessary reiteration of the same words, phrases, or ideas.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βαττολογία (battología, “stammering speech”).

Example Sentences

• "Logomachy, battology, jingling of words, are all these fine speeches!"
• "This sonorous balance of phrase and epithet cannot always escape what Milton himself calls "the heathenish battology of multiplying words.""
• "For Watt's sense of chronology was strong, in a way, and his dislike of battology was very strong."

Related Words