Auxesis
A rhetorical climb — arranging words or ideas in ascending order of force or magnitude.
Auxesis (Greek, 'growth' or 'amplification') is the figure of arranging items in a series so that each successive item is stronger, larger, or more significant than the one before it. Julius Caesar's 'Veni, vidi, vici' is a small auxesis: three verbs, each covering more ground than the last. Churchill's 'we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills' is a longer one.
The figure has two related uses. In its narrow sense, auxesis simply means climax — an ascending series. In a broader sense, it means the rhetorical amplification of a subject: making a thing seem greater by dwelling on it, comparing it to great things, or piling up its associated details.
The opposite figure is meiosis or diminutio, the deliberate belittling of a subject. Auxesis and meiosis together define the two axes on which rhetoric moves subjects up and down in the reader's estimation.
Auxesis is most effective when the ascending series has a genuine climb. A false auxesis — one where the last item is not, in fact, the largest — flattens on the ear. When editing an auxesis, always test whether the last item feels bigger, weightier, or more final than any earlier item. If it does not, reorder or rewrite until it does.
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Keep reading the glossary
A rhetorical structure of three parallel clauses, phrases, or words — the most persuasive number in English.
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses.
Deliberate exaggeration for effect — not meant to be taken literally.
Deliberate understatement — describing something as less than it is, for emphasis or irony.