Parentheses vs. Parenthesis: What's the Difference?

Either or both of the upright curved lines, ( ), used to mark off explanatory or qualifying remarks in writing or printing or enclose a sum, product, or other expression considered or treated as a collective entity in a mathematical operation.

Either or both of the upright curved lines, ( ), used to mark off explanatory or qualifying remarks in writing or printing or enclose a sum, product, or other expression considered or treated as a collective entity in a mathematical operation.

A qualifying or amplifying word, phrase, or sentence inserted within written matter in such a way as to be independent of the surrounding grammatical structure.

A qualifying or amplifying word, phrase, or sentence inserted within written matter in such a way as to be independent of the surrounding grammatical structure.

A comment departing from the theme of discourse; a digression.

A comment departing from the theme of discourse; a digression.

An interruption of continuity; an interval

An interruption of continuity; an interval

A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.

Either of a pair of brackets, especially round brackets, ( and ) (used to enclose parenthetical material in a text).

(rhetoric) A digression; the use of such digressions.

Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes.

One of the curved lines () which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase.

Either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material

A message that departs from the main subject