lepsis

Lepsis, also spelled leipsis, is a term from rhetoric and philology used to describe the omission of one or more words that are understood from context. The name derives from the Greek λέψις (lepsis), meaning a taking, slipping, or omission. In many discussions, lepsis is treated as a form of ellipsis, a broader category that covers omitted material in sentences; in other traditions the two terms are used more narrowly and sometimes interchangeably, with lepsis emphasizing the omission within or across coordinated phrases.

In classical usage, lepsis serves to produce conciseness, speed up the rhythm of a passage, or place emphasis on the surviving words. It commonly involves dropping a word that is recoverable from parallel clauses or prior context, such as omitting an implied subject or auxiliary verb. The technique appears in Greek and Latin literature and is discussed in traditional rhetorical manuals as part of the broader study of how sentences can be streamlined without losing meaning.

Examples often cited include phrases where a repeated element is omitted after the first occurrence, leaving the rest to be inferred. For instance, in a sequence like “I came, I saw, conquered,” the subject "I" and the verb form in the second and third clauses are understood, producing a compact effect associated with lepsis in some analyses and with ellipsis in others.

Today, lepsis is primarily of interest to scholars of classical rhetoric, philology, and textual criticism. In modern linguistics and grammar, ellipsis is the more common term, while lepsis remains a useful historical descriptor for certain omissions discussed in classical sources.