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to parenthesize

to parenthesize

8.2
To treat information as a small extra note by putting it in parentheses
  • verb
  • /pərˈɛnθəˌsaɪz/
: considerar como un apéndice
  • When explaining the concept, he had to parenthesize some details that were not essential to the main point.

Examples

  • In her essay, she chose to parenthesize the author's name, indicating that it was a side note.

  • The author decided to parenthesize the additional information to keep the main argument clear.

  • Or we could just bracket parenthesize the yeah.

Antonyms

397 3.7

To show that something is very important

How Important

to emphasize
  • US
397 3.7
to highlight
340 3.3
to mention
∞ 1.0
to parenthesize
8.2
to dismiss
332 3.0
to ignore
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

parenthesize infinitive
parenthesized past participle
parenthesizing present participle
parenthesizes third person singular

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.