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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ellipsis \El*lip"sis\ ([e^]l*l[i^]p"s[i^]s), noun; pl. {Ellipses} ([e^]l*l[i^]p"s[=e]z). [L., fr. Gr. 'e'lleipsis a leaving, defect, fr. 'ellei'pein to leave in, fall short; 'en in + lei'pein to leave. See {In}, and {Loan}, and cf. {Ellipse}.]
1. (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted; as, the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire.
2. (Geom.) An ellipse. [Obs.]
3. (Printing) a printing symbol, usually three periods in a row (. . .), indicating the omission of some part of a text; -- used commonly in quotations, so as to suppress words not essential to the meaning. A long dash (---) and three asterisks (* * *) are sometimes used with the same meaning. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
ellipsis
noun: omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences [syn: {eclipsis}] [also: {ellipses} (pl)]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
30 Moby Thesaurus words for "ellipsis": abbreviation, abridgment, abstract, apocope, aposiopesis, clipping, compression, condensation, conspectus, contraction, crasis, curtailment, cutting, elision, epitome, foreshortening, precis, pruning, recap, recapitulation, reduction, retrenchment, shortening, summary, summation, syncope, syneresis, synopsis, telescoping, truncation
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