ANACOLUTHON, a defectively constructed sentence which does not run on as a continuous whole. When a writer or speaker is full of his subject, or is carried rapidly along by the passion of the moment, such inconsequents are very apt to occur. Of Niebuhr it is told that his oral lectures consisted almost entirely of anacoluthic constructions. To this kind of licence some lan guages, as Greek and English, readily lend themselves; while the grammatical rigidity of others, as Latin and French, admits of it but sparingly. The following is an example :—"And he charged him to tell no man; but go show thyself," etc. (Luke v. 14) . The anacoluthon, as might be expected, is found several times in the plays of Shakespeare, e.g., Keep your word, Phoebe, that you'll marry me, Or else, refusing me, to wed this shepherd.
(As You Like It, Act v. 4.)