Binomial pair

For other uses of "binomial", see binomial (disambiguation).

In linguistics, a binomial pair or binomial is a sequence of two or more words or phrases belonging to the same grammatical category, having some semantic relationship and joined by some syntactic device such as and or or. Examples in English include through and through, (without) let or hindrance, and chalk and cheese.

Several legal terms are binomial pairs, often (but not necessarily) consisting of one Germanic word and one Romance word, such as (last) will and testament or cease and desist.

Binomials are often irreversible; that is, they occur only in one order. For example, one says bow and arrow but not *arrow and bow; one says here and there and that's neither here nor there, but not *there and here or *that's neither there nor here.

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