A rhetorical figure involving the repetition of a word in different cases or inflections within the same sentence.
Origin
Old English; earliest use found in Byrhtferð of Ramsey (fl. c986–c1016), Benedictine monk and scholar. From post-classical Latin polyptoton from Hellenistic Greek πολύπτωτον, use as noun of neuter of πολύπτωτος, adjective.