You searched for: “allusion
allusion (uh LOO zhuhn) (s) (noun), allusions (pl)
1. An indication of something; a mention of, a hint, a suggestion: When anyone makes an allusion to a person or thing, he or she is making a brief reference about it, but is not providing any details.

An allusion is never an outright or explicit designation of a person or anything that the speaker seems to have in mind.

The history book about America which Sam was reading made a brief allusion to the ancient Greek idea of what a democracy was.

Heidi made an allusion to her first marriage, but she said nothing more revealing about it.

2. A play on words, a word-play, a pun (now considered obsolete): The editor of the dictionary was delighted to find out about a book of allusions with which he was unfamiliar.
3. A covert, implied, or indirect reference; a passing or incidental reference: The main thing to remember is that an allusion is a brief hint or a quick mention of something which the readers or listeners are expected to have some knowledge about.
4. Etymology: from Latin allusionem, allusio, "a playing with, a reference to"; from allus-, a stem of alludere, "to play, to joke, to jest."
An indirect reference to or a comparison.
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This entry is located in the following units: lud-, ludi-, lus- (page 1) -sion, -sions (page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words: “allusion
An indirect reference, a comparison, or a brief hint; sometimes, a quick mention of something to which readers or listeners are expected to have some knowledge about. (1)