This article represents the notion of enumeration from the historical perspective. The author traces changes in the interpretation of the nature and specific functions of enumeration from the ancient times to the beginning of the 21st century with reference to a number of leading linguists of different areas and linguistic schools. Having studied enumeration from the historical perspective on the material of different classifications of stylistic devices, it has been found out that the technique under consideration is not sufficiently researched, which requires further, more in-depth study of enumeration.