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Merism
View on WikipediaMerism (Latin: merismus, Ancient Greek: μερισμός, romanized: merismós) is a rhetorical device (or figure of speech) in which a combination of two contrasting parts of the whole refer to the whole.[1]: 10 [2][3]
For example, in order to say that someone "searched everywhere", one could use the merism "searched high and low". Another example is the sword-and-sandal movie genre, a loose term for a genre of movies made principally in Italy in the 1950s and 1960s set in classical antiquity.
Merisms are common in the Old Testament. For example, in Genesis 1:1, when God creates את השמים ואת הארץ (Modern pronunciation: et hashamaim ve-et haarets) "the heavens and the earth" (New Revised Standard Version), the two parts (heavens and earth) do not refer only to the heavens and the earth. Rather, they refer to the heavens, the earth and everything between them: God created the entire world, the whole universe.[1]: 10 Other famous examples of Biblical merisms are Genesis 1:5 in which "evening" and "morning" refer to "one day" (including noon, afternoon etc.) and Psalm 139 in which the psalmist declares that God knows "my downsitting and my uprising": God knows all of the psalmist's actions.[1]: 10
Etymology
[edit]The term entered English in 1894 in the biological sense but had appeared earlier in rhetorical contexts in which it denoted "'synecdoche in which totality is expressed by contrasting parts' (such as high and low, young and old)". It derives from Modern Latin merismus, from Greek μερισμός merismos 'a dividing or partitioning', ultimately from merizein 'to divide', from meros 'part, share'.[4][5]
Biological usage
[edit]In biology, a merism is a repetition of similar parts in the structure of an organism (Bateson 1894). Such features are called meristic characters, and the study of such characters is called meristics. An example is in flowers in considering the number of parts in each whorl of organs from which they are constructed.[6]: 30, 31
Legal usage
[edit] |
 | This section may contain original research. (July 2020) |
Merisms frequently figure in the writing of lawyers and are a hallmark of legal style. The two parts of the legal merism "Last Will and Testament" at one time referred to two documents, which were enforced in two separate courts. The will disposed of a decedent's real property, and the testament disposed of chattels. It became customary to combine the instruments in a single dispositive document, and the name has continued long after the doctrines that had required its use became obsolete in common law.
A lawyer who writes a will typically includes a residuary clause that disposes of any property not covered by a prior section. The weight of tradition is such that the lawyer writing such a document will often phrase it something like this:
I bequeath, convey, and devise the rest, residue, and remainder of my property, whether real or personal, and wheresoever it may be situated, to...
Traditionally, a gift of real property was called a "devise", and a gift of other property was a "bequest". Nowadays, the words "bequeath" and "devise" are synonymous in most jurisdictions and so "I bequeath the rest of my property to..." is enough in both law and logic to achieve the same result. Many deeds frequently contain a traditional clause that says that the grantee is "to have and to hold" the property conveyed. That usage goes back to the days in which the instruments were drawn up in Latin, and is sometimes called a "habendam et tenendam" clause. The use of legal merisms seldom, if ever, adds legal effect to the documents that contain them, but it frequently increases their reading difficulty. However, the weight of tradition and the fear of a deviation from the established formula having unintended legal consequences make lawyers reluctant to revise the traditional formulae, and their clients, seeing them, at least draw the satisfaction of knowing that their documents appear to be written by a lawyer.
In some cases, the doubling (or even tripling) of constituent parts in the meristic constructions arose as a result of the transition of legal discourse from Latin to French and then from French to English. During such periods, key terms were paired with synonyms from multiple languages in an attempt to prevent ambiguity and ensure hermeneutic consistency.[7]: 164–65
See also
[edit]
- Dvandva
- Hendiadys – Conjunction for emphasis
- Synecdoche, referring to a whole by the name of one of its parts (or vice versa):
- Pars pro toto, where the part is used to refer to the whole.
- Totum pro parte, where the whole is used to refer to a part.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2020). Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199812790. ISBN 9780199812776
- ^ Bruce K Waltke (2007). A commentary on Micah. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 456–. ISBN 978-0-8028-4933-5. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Adele Berlin; Marc Zvi Brettler; Michael A. Fishbane; Jewish Publication Society (2004). The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 2134. ISBN 978-0-19-529751-5. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ "Online Dictionary of Language Terminology". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ Louis P. Ronse De Craene (4 February 2010). Floral Diagrams: An Aid to Understanding Flower Morphology and Evolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-139-48455-8.
- ^ Espenschied, Lenné Eidson (2010). Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice. American Bar Association.
Further reading
[edit]- William Bateson, Materials For The Study Of Variation: Treated With Especial Regard To Discontinuity In The Origin Of Species (Macmillan and Co., 1894)
- Bryan A. Garner, The Elements of Legal Style. (Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-19-514162-8)
- Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-19-514413-9)
Merism
View on GrokipediaIntroduction and Etymology
Definition
Merism is primarily recognized as a rhetorical device in which a whole is conveyed through the mention of contrasting, complementary, or partial elements, often in the form of paired terms that imply totality, such as "high and low" to denote everywhere. This figure of speech operates as a type of synecdoche, where parts stand for the entirety, emphasizing completeness through abbreviation or opposition.[8][9] In biology, merism describes the repetition or segmented arrangement of similar structural parts within an organism, exemplified by meristic features like the countable rays in fish fins. The term was coined in 1894 by British biologist William Bateson in his work Materials for the Study of Variation, where he used it to denote discontinuous variations arising from the repetition of parts, distinguishing such patterns from continuous evolutionary changes.[10][11] In legal contexts, merism functions as a stylistic device employing paired or enumerative phrases to inclusively cover all relevant possibilities under a single concept, such as "sales and purchase" to represent a commercial transaction. This approach ensures comprehensive interpretation without exhaustive listing, rooted in the same synecdochic principle of representing totality through selected components.[12]Etymology
The term "merism" derives from the Ancient Greek merismos (μερισμός), meaning "a dividing" or "partition," ultimately from the verb merizein (μερίζειν), "to divide," and the noun meros (μέρος), "part" or "portion."[2][13] This root reflects the concept of segmentation or distribution inherent in the word's early applications. The term first appeared in English as "merismus" in 1589, introduced by George Puttenham in The Arte of English Poesie as a rhetorical figure termed the "Distributor," which involves enumerating the parts of a whole to amplify or clarify its significance.[14] In 1894, biologist William Bateson repurposed the shortened form "merism" in his seminal work Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial Regard to Discontinuity in the Origin of Species, defining it as "the phenomenon of Repetition of Parts, generally occurring in accordance with the laws of Symmetry."[15] Bateson's usage marked its entry into scientific discourse, focusing on serial homology and structural repetition in organisms. Semantically, "merism" evolved from its Greek origins in partition to encompass, in biology, the iterative replication of anatomical elements—such as repeated segments in invertebrates—while in rhetoric, it developed by the early 20th century into a device for denoting wholeness through opposed or complementary parts, akin to a form of synecdoche.[2] This biological sense also influenced the related field of "meristics," coined shortly thereafter to describe the measurement and counting of such repeatable, discrete features in organisms, like fin rays or vertebrae in fish.[16]Applications
Rhetoric
In rhetoric, merism is a figure of speech that conveys a sense of totality or completeness by enumerating contrasting or complementary elements rather than naming the whole directly. This device implies an inclusive range, often using polar opposites, parts of a whole, or extremes to suggest everything in between, thereby creating emphasis and rhythmic memorability in language.[6] Scholars trace its rhetorical function to ancient Semitic and Indo-European traditions, where it serves to evoke universality without exhaustive listing, as seen in its abbreviated expression of concepts like space, time, or social groups.[17] Merism appears in several types, distinguished by the nature of the paired elements. One common type involves polar opposites to represent the entire spectrum, such as "heaven and earth" to denote the universe in Genesis 1:1 of the Hebrew Bible, a seminal example that underscores creation's fullness.[6][17] Another type focuses on body parts to imply the complete physical entity, like "from head to foot" in Isaiah 1:6, emphasizing total affliction.[18] Action-based merisms, such as "going and coming" in Psalm 139:7-8 to signify omnipresence, highlight exhaustive motion or process.[6] These types differ from mere listing by their deliberate contrast, which amplifies rhetorical impact. Historically, merism features prominently in biblical and classical literature. In the Hebrew Bible, A. M. Honeyman identifies numerous instances, including "young and old" for all people (Joel 2:28) and "male and female" for humanity (Genesis 1:27), illustrating its role in poetic parallelism and totality.[17] Classical Greek texts employ similar structures; for example, Homer uses "gods and men" in the Iliad (e.g., Book 1) to encompass the divine-human realm, reinforcing epic scope.[19] In Shakespearean drama, phrases like "fair and foul" in Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 1) evoke a meristic totality of moral inversion, blending opposites for thematic depth.[6] Merism relates closely to synecdoche, as both use parts to represent wholes, but merism specifically emphasizes contrast or complementarity to denote inclusion, distinguishing it from other tropes like hendiadys.[6] In modern idioms and poetry, it persists for stylistic vividness, as in "lock, stock, and barrel" to mean the entirety of a gun or situation, or "kith and kin" for all family and friends, maintaining its emphatic utility in English expression.[6]Biology
In biology, merism refers to the repetition of similar parts or segments in an organism's body plan, often manifesting as a regular pattern of structural duplication that contributes to the organism's overall morphology.[20] This concept encompasses phenomena such as metamery, where the body is divided into serially repeated homologous segments, as seen in annelids like earthworms, which exhibit a linear series of similar body units that enhance locomotion and flexibility.[21] Such repetitive arrangements allow for modular development and functional specialization across segments, distinguishing merism from mere symmetry by emphasizing countable, iterative elements in the organism's architecture.[10] A key subfield related to merism is meristics, which involves the quantitative analysis of countable morphological features, such as the number of vertebrae, scales, or fin rays in fish, to inform taxonomic classification and evolutionary studies.[22] These meristic traits are typically fixed early in development and exhibit low intraspecific variation, making them valuable for delineating species boundaries and tracing phylogenetic relationships.[23] For instance, differences in fin ray counts between closely related fish species can reveal adaptive divergences driven by environmental pressures.[24] Examples of merism abound across taxa, including floral merism in plants, where the number of organs per whorl—such as dimerous (two parts) or trimerous (three parts) arrangements in sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels—defines floral structure and aids in systematic identification.[25] In animals, serial homology exemplifies merism through the repetition of similar limb structures, as in the pentadactyl limbs of vertebrates, where bones like the humerus and phalanges recur in a patterned fashion, reflecting shared developmental origins.[26] Meristic variation in these features often signals evolutionary adaptation; for example, shifts in vertebral counts among fish populations can indicate responses to habitat changes or speciation events, providing insights into how repetitive structures evolve under selective pressures.[27] The term merism entered biological literature in 1894 through William Bateson's seminal work on variation, where he described it as the discontinuous repetition of parts in organisms, laying foundational groundwork for understanding morphological discontinuity in evolution.[10]Law
In legal drafting, merism functions as a stylistic device employing paired terms to denote totality and comprehensiveness, thereby minimizing ambiguity and ensuring that no aspect of a concept is overlooked. This approach, often manifesting as legal doublets—pairs of near-synonyms connected by "and"—originated in English common law following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when bilingual drafting incorporated Anglo-Saxon English and Norman French words to bridge linguistic divides and guarantee mutual comprehension among speakers.[28][29][30] A classic example is "last will and testament," which historically distinguished two separate instruments: a "will" disposing of real property (enforced in ecclesiastical courts) and a "testament" addressing personal property (handled in probate courts), thus encompassing the full spectrum of estate disposition.[31][32] Similarly, "goods and chattels" combines an English term ("goods," meaning movable items) with a French-derived one ("chattels," denoting property akin to cattle), collectively covering all forms of personal property to prevent interpretive gaps in inheritance or conveyance documents.[33] Other prevalent pairings include "real and personal" estate, delineating immovable and movable assets in property transfers, and "rights and remedies," which in contracts signals both entitlements and enforcement mechanisms to affirm exhaustive coverage.[34][35] The purpose of such merisms lies in bolstering precision, particularly in residuary clauses of wills or statutes, where they safeguard against unforeseen omissions by implying inclusivity through enumeration of parts.[33] Courts have interpreted these pairs literally in some cases, as in historical rulings upholding "will and testament" to validate both realty and personalty dispositions, though modern equity principles often treat them as unitary.[31] Critics, including legal linguists, note that while these constructions once served practical ends, they now contribute to verbosity and redundancy in an era of simplified drafting alternatives, yet they persist due to tradition and the interpretive weight precedents afford them.[30][28] In contemporary practice, merisms remain embedded in statutes, contracts, and wills across common law jurisdictions, such as the U.S. Uniform Probate Code's retention of "will and testament" phrasing, underscoring their enduring role in evoking comprehensive intent despite calls for modernization.[34][29]References
- https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_45/August_1894/Literary_Notices