What does chiasmus mean?
Chiasmus is a rhetorical figure in which the elements of one clause are repeated in reverse order in the next, producing a mirrored or criss-crossing structure. Its name comes from the Greek letter chi (X), reflecting this crossed arrangement. A celebrated example comes from John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address: 'Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.' Chiasmus lends speech a sense of balance, elegance, and finality, which is why it has been prized since antiquity by orators, poets, and biblical writers alike. In modern usage the word belongs mainly to literary criticism, rhetoric, and classical scholarship rather than casual conversation. A closely related term, antimetabole, describes the narrower case where the very same words are repeated in inverted order. Beyond rhetoric, 'chiasmus' and the related form 'chiasma' appear in biology to denote X-shaped crossings, such as those formed between chromosomes during cell division.
nounA rhetorical figure in which words or grammatical constructions are repeated in reverse order in successive clauses (e.g., 'ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country'). More broadly, an arrangement in which two parts mirror each other around a central point.
- A rhetorical device in which successive clauses repeat a structure in inverted order (ABBA pattern), as in 'It is boring to eat; to cook it is fun.'
- In biology and genetics: an X-shaped crossing or intersection, especially the point where chromatids exchange material during meiosis (more usually called a 'chiasma').
"Kennedy's inaugural address is famous for its chiasmus: 'ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.'"
"The preacher's sermon relied on chiasmus, turning the phrase 'we live to work' into its mirror image, 'we work to live.'"
"Classical rhetoricians taught students to craft chiasmus because its criss-crossing structure made arguments feel balanced and final."
The regular English plural 'chiasmuses' is standard; some scholarly texts retain a Latinate plural form.
"The essayist filled her prose with chiasmuses, each one turning an idea neatly back on itself."
JFK's most quoted line isn't just memorable by accident — it's built on a 2,000-year-old Greek rhetorical trick named after the letter X.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chiasmus
Chiasmus derives from the Greek 'khiasmos', meaning 'crossing' or 'arrangement in the shape of the letter chi (X)', which in turn comes from 'khiazein', 'to mark with a chi'. The term entered English via Latin in the mid-17th century, when classical rhetoric was being systematically catalogued. It shares its root with related English words such as 'chiasma' and 'chiasm', used chiefly in anatomy and genetics to describe X-shaped structures or crossings.
Related word forms
How chiasmus is actually used
Chiasmus is primarily a term from rhetoric, literary criticism, and classical studies, so it carries a scholarly register; it appears rarely in everyday conversation. The plural is commonly rendered 'chiasmuses' in English, though some writers retain the Latin-style plural. Because the word itself derives from the Greek letter chi (X), some sources also use it loosely to describe any X-shaped crossing, particularly in anatomy and genetics.
Easily confused with chiasmus
Antimetabole is the stricter subtype of chiasmus in which the exact same words are repeated in reverse order, whereas chiasmus more broadly covers reversed grammatical structures even without verbatim repetition.
Parallelism repeats similar grammatical structures in the same direction without reversing them, while chiasmus specifically mirrors or inverts the structure.