Adynaton

Adynaton (/ˌædɪˈnɑːtɒn, -tən/;^[1] plural adynata) is a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to insinuate a complete impossibility:^[2]

I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one on his cheek.^[3]

The word derives from the Greek ἀδύνατον (adunaton), neuter of ἀδύνατος (adunatos), "unable, impossible" (a-, "without" + dynasthai, "to be possible or powerful").^[4]

^ "adynaton". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26.
^ Stephen Cushman; Clare Cavanagh; Jahan Ramazani; Paul Rouzer (26 August 2012). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4008-4142-4. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
^ Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
^ ἀδύνατος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

[1] "adynaton". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26.

[CushmanCavanagh2012-2] Stephen Cushman; Clare Cavanagh; Jahan Ramazani; Paul Rouzer (26 August 2012). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4008-4142-4. Retrieved 24 September 2013.

[3] Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2

[4] ἀδύνατος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

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