to parenthesize
- verb
- /pərˈɛnθəˌsaɪz/
- When explaining the concept, he had to parenthesize some details that were not essential to the main point.
Examples
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In her essay, she chose to parenthesize the author's name, indicating that it was a side note.
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The author decided to parenthesize the additional information to keep the main argument clear.
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Or we could just bracket parenthesize the yeah.
Antonyms
How Important
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
parenthesize = parenthesis (semi-transparent) = parenthesis + ize
The formation is the same as the literal sense, but the figurative meaning 'treat as an aside or secondary' is a metaphorical extension and not purely literal.
Etymology
Parenthesize comes from the same idea of para- 'beside', so to parenthesize a thought is to set it apart as an 'aside' or less important point. That way the idea sits 'beside' the main argument and is clearly not the main focus.