figures of speech - Of the difference between zeugma and syllepsis


I am confused about what is the relative meaning of zeugma compared to syllepsis, both in its current meaning and possibly in former understandings of these words.


The New Oxford American Dictionary has:



zeugma
a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g., John and his license expired last week) or to two others of which it semantically suits only one (e.g., with weeping eyes and hearts).



syllepsis
a figure of speech in which a word is applied to two others in different senses (e.g., caught the train and a bad cold) or to two others of which it grammatically suits only one (e.g., neither they nor it is working).

According to this, there is some overlap, though zeugma is more about semantics and syllepsis about grammar. Online sources on this issue conflict, with some insisting one the difference (“not to be confused with zeugma”) and others stating that the two have merged.


Can someone offer a clear view of the differences, present or past, between these terms?



Answer



The OED, in the definition of syllepsis reports that is also another term for zeugma.


The Collin English Dictionary reports that syllepsis means "(in grammar or rhetoric) the use of a single sentence construction in which a verb, adjective, etc is made to cover two syntactical functions, as the verb form have in "she and they have promised to come." Also the CED reports that syllepsis is another word for zeugma (as second meaning).


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