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- Parachesis. Repetition of the same sound in several words in close succession. Alliteration (initial rhyme) is a special case of parachesis.
- Paradeigma. Greek, argument created by a list of examples that leads to a probable generalized idea.
- Paradiastole. Greek, redescription - usually in a better light.
- Paralipsis. When a rhetor refuses to continue with their current discussion, or passes over the rest of the conversation, or admits that they do not know what else to say. For example, (from Rhetorica ad Herennium), "'Your boyhood, indeed, which you dedicated to intemperance of all kinds, I would discuss, if I thought this the right time. But at the present I advisedly leave that aside. This too I pass by, that the tribunes have reported you as irregular in military service.'"
- Parallel Syntax. repetition of similar sentence structures.
- Parallel Structure. using the same tense and structure.
- Parisosis. When clauses have very similar lengths, as measured by syllables; sometimes taken as equivalent to isocolon.
- Paromoiosis. Parallelism of sound between the words of two clauses approximately equal in size. The similarity of sound can occur at the beginning of the clauses, at the end (where it is equivalent to homoioteleuton), in the middle or throughout the clauses.
- Pathos. An emotional appeal that inadvertently evokes laughter or ridicule.
- Paronomasia. A play on words, often for humorous effect.
- Particular audience. In Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, the actual audience the orator addresses.
- Pathos. Greek, the emotional appeal to an audience in an argument. One of Aristotle's three proofs.
- Perfectus orator. Latin, a complete orator.
- Periphrasis. The substitution of many or several words where one would suffice; usually to avoid using that particular word.
- Peroratio. Latin, the last section of a judicial speech where the speaker is the strongest.
- Personification. A figure of speech that gives human characteristics to inanimate objects, or represents an absent person as being present. For example (from Rhetorica ad Herennium), "'But if this invincible city should now give utterance to her voice, would she not speak as follows?'"
- Petitio. Latin, in a letter, an announcement, demand, or request.
- Phallogocentrism. Examines the relationship between logos (reason) and the phallus (representative of male genitalia). Just as the phallus is implicitly and sometime explicitly assumed to be the only significant sexual organ, the masculine is the accepted as the central point of reference of validity and authority for a society.
- Phronesis. Greek, practical wisdom; common sense.
- Physis. Greek, nature.
- Pian. Ancient China, the art of disputing.
- Pistis. Greek, belief.
- Plausibility. Rhetoric that is believable right away due to its association with something that the audience already knows or has experienced.
- Pleonasm. The use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
- Poetriae,Ars. Latin, poetry as an art.
- Polis. Greek, the city-state, especially the people in the city-state.
- Polyphonic. Having multiple voices.
- Polyptoton. The repetition of a word or root in different cases or inflections within the same sentence.
- Polysyndeton. The repeated use of conjunctions within a sentence, particularly where they do not necessarily have to be used.
- Portrayal. Describing a person clearly enough for recognition. For example (from Rhetorica ad Herennium), "'I mean him, men of the jury, the ruddy, short, bent man, with white and rather curly hair, blue-grey eyes, and a huge scar on his chin, if perhaps you can recall him to memory.'"
- Position. The stance taken by a rhetor that s/he is attempting to prove through argumentation.
- Positivism. Term created by Auguste Comte that posits that science, math, or logic can prove any reasonable claim.
- Postmodernism. Related to rhetoric, a field of inquiry concerned with the ideological underpinnings of commonly held assumptions.
- Praedicandi, Ars. Latin, Preaching.
- Praegnans constructio. A form of brachylogy in which two clauses or two expressions are condensed into one.
- Pragmatism. Approach based on practical consideration and immediate perception to the exclusion of moral (in the sense of 'should') and ethic arguments.
- Presence. In Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, choosing to emphasize certain facts and ideas instead of others, leading the audience along that path.
- Presumption. An idea is reasonable or acceptable only until it is sufficiently challenged.
- Prolepsis . A literary device in which a future state is spoken of in the present; for example, a condemned man may be called a "dead man walking".
- Proof surrogate. An expression used to suggest that there is evidence or authority for a claim without actually citing such evidence or authority
- Prosopopoeia Speaking as another person or object; in a sense, the inverse of apostrophe
- Pronuntiato. Latin: The delivery of an oration or an argument in a manner befitting the subject matter and style, while maintaining control of voice and body.
- Protreptic. Greek, the potential to persuade through language.
- Prudence. Judging practically.
- Psogos. Greek for blame.
- Psychagogos. Greek for a poet.
- Psyche. Greek for the mind or soul.
- Public Sphere. Place where individuals can engage in discussion without the political or state interests interfering.
- Purpose. What are we trying to do with our uses of language?
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of Rhetoric Terms