Merismus

Pronunciation: mer-is'-mus

Alternate Spelling: distributio

Definition

The dividing of a whole into its parts.

Examples

Puttenham provides this example. If one begins with a sentence, "The house was outrageously plucked down." One can through merismus obtain: "They first undermined the ground fills, they beat down the walls, they unfloored the lofts, they untiled it and pulled down the roof."