[el.lip.sis] n, pl el.lip.ses [L, fr. Gk elleipsis ellipsis, ellipse, fr. elleipein to leave out, fall short, fr. en in + leipein to leave--more at in, loan] (1540) 1 a: the omission of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be supplied to make a construction grammatically complete b: a sudden leap from one topic to another
2: marks or a mark (as ... or *** or --) indicating an omission (as of words) or a pause