Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RHET'OR-IC, n. [Gr. ῥητορικη, from ῥεω, to speak, to flow, contracted from ῥετω or ῥεθω, Eng. to read. The primary sense is to drive or send. See Read.]

1. The art of speaking with propriety, elegance and force. – Locke. Dryden. Encyc.
2. The power of persuasion or attraction; that which allures or charms. We speak of the rhetoric of the tongue, and the rhetoric of the heart or eyes. Sweet silent rhetoric of persuading eyes. – Daniel.