# litotes
## English
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/, enPR: lītō'tēz
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: li‧to‧tes
* Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)

### Noun

litotes (countable and uncountable, plural litotes)
* (rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive.
    Synonym: meiosis
    Antonym: hyperbole
    Hypernyms: irony, understatement, meiosis
** 1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve‎, volume 1, Methuen and Co.:The delicacy which prompts a later generation to reject that name is by no means necessarily a result of stricter habits, is far more often due to the flatness which comes of untiring repetition and to the greater piquancy of litotes.

#### Derived terms

* litotic
* litotical
* litotically

#### See also

* paradiastole
* double negative
* Appendix:Snowclones/not the X-est in the Y

### Further reading

* litotes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Litotes in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

### Anagrams

* Sottile, oil test, toilest, toilets

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /li.tɔt/

### Noun

litotes f
* plural of litote

## Latin
### Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈliː.to.teːs/, [ˈlʲiːt̪ɔt̪eːs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈli.to.tes/, [ˈliːt̪ot̪es]

### Noun

lītotēs f (genitive lītotētos); third declension (Late Latin)
* (rhetoric) litotes (rhetorical understatement)

#### Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | lītotēs | lītotētes |
| Genitive | lītotētos | lītotētum |
| Dative | lītotētī | lītotētibus |
| Accusative | lītotēta | lītotētas |
| Ablative | lītotēte | lītotētibus |
| Vocative | lītotēs | lītotētes |

#### Descendants

* → English: litotes (learned)
* → French: litote (learned)
** → Russian: лито́та (litóta)
** → Spanish: litote
* → German: Litotes (learned)
* → Italian: litote (learned)
* → Polish: litotes (learned)

### References

* litotes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Souter, Alexander (1949) “lītotēs”, in A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A.D.‎, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, published 1957, page 234

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

litotes m (definite singular litotesen, indefinite plural litoteser, definite plural litotesene)
* form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by litot

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

litotes m (definite singular litotesen, indefinite plural litotesar, definite plural litotesane)
* (pre-2005) alternative form of litot

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lītotēs. Doublet of litota.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /liˈtɔtɛs/
* Rhymes: -ɔtɛs
* Syllabification: li‧to‧tes

### Noun

litotes m inan (indeclinable)
* (rhetoric) litotes (figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive)
    Synonym: litota

### Further reading

* litotes in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs).

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /liˈtɔ.t͡ʃis/
* (Brazil) IPA: /liˈtɔ.t͡ʃis/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /liˈtɔ.t͡ʃiʃ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /liˈtɔ.tes/
* (Portugal) IPA: /liˈtɔ.tɨʃ/
* Hyphenation: li‧to‧tes

### Noun

litotes f (invariable)
* (rhetoric) litotes (an understatement employed for rhetoric effect)

## Spanish
### Noun

litotes f pl
* plural of litote