catachrèse

Forms

catachrèse f (plural catachrèses)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin catachrēsis, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse”), which came to mean the improper use of a word.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Greek word is formed from κατά (katá, “against”) and χρῆσις (khrêsis, “use”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1557, in Antoine Fouquelin's Rhetorique françoise: Si vous dites un sacrilège, pour un larron, ce sera une Catachrese, et une Synecdoche : car l'espece est mise pour le genre (“if you say a sacrilegious man for a thief, it will be a catachresis and a synecdoche, for the species is put for the genus”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

A term of rhetoric, it names a trope that stretches a word beyond its proper sense, and especially the use of a word for a thing that has no name of its own in the language, by metonymy, synecdoche or metaphor.^[2][6] In modern usage it often means a metaphor so common that it is no longer felt as one.^[2][7] English catachresis is recorded from the 1580s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1557 – First record, in Fouquelin's Rhetorique françoise.^[2][3]
• 1580s – English catachresis appears.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) A figure that turns a word from its proper sense to name something else that resembles what it first meant, as une feuille de papier.^[7][6][4]
2. Specifically, a metaphor that has become part of the language and is no longer felt as a figure: les pieds d'une table, les ailes d'un moulin.^[7][2]

Related words

• Latin catachrēsis
• English catachresis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 486a
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com