Chiasmus vs. Antimetabole

(rhetoric) An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases.

An inversion of the order of words or phrases, when repeated or subsequently referred to in a sentence

Example: ‘If e'er to bless thy sonsMy voice or hands deny,These hands let useful skill forsake,This voice in silence die.’;

inversion in the second of two parallel phrases

a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

In rhetoric, chiasmus ( kahy-AZ-muhs) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, , from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, ), is a .A similar device, antimetabole, also involves a reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses, but unlike chiasmus, presents a repetition of words in an A-B-B-A configuration.

Example: ‘crossing’; ‘to shape like the letter Χ’; ‘reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of words’;

(rhetoric) The technique of reversal, where accentuated by reversal of words, actions or grammatical structure.

A figure in which the same words or ideas are repeated in transposed order.

In rhetoric, antimetabole ( AN-ti-mə-TAB-ə-lee) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, . It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.

Example: ‘I know what I like, and I like what I know’;