PHRASE

I. noun Etymology: Latin phrasis, from Greek, from phrazein to point out, explain, tell Date: 1530 a characteristic manner or style of expression ; diction , 2. a brief expression, word , a short musical thought typically two to four measures long closing with a cadence, a word or group of words forming a syntactic constituent with a single grammatical function , a series of dance movements comprising a section of a pattern, II. transitive verb (~d; phrasing) Date: 1570 1. to express in words or in appropriate or telling terms, to designate by a descriptive word or ~, to divide into melodic ~s