Ellipsis is a term of punctuation marks with a row of three points (...). Its name comes from the ancient Greek word ἔλλειψις (omission/falling short). Notice that the three dots are not spaced as full points: they are a separate special typographic sign.
Depending on context and place in a sentence, ellipses can indicate an unfinished thought, a leading statement, a slight pause, a mysterious or echoing voice, or a nervous or awkward silence. An ellipsis can be used to trail off into silence—for example: But I thought he was...
- So much more could be said...
When text is quoted from a book or a newspaper, it stands for words that have been cut out to save space in a page. For example:
- "...one day all Americans will live peacefully throughout the world...they will be at peace with all other world inhabitants..."
When speaking, it can be referred to as "dot-dot-dot".
In mathematics, different symbols for ellipsis are used to a similar effect. These include the horizontal ellipsis symbols and , along with vertical ellipsis symbols such as and .[1][2]
