metaphor English · revision 39929

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1477|origins=grc μεταφορά}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈmɛt.ə.fə/, /ˈmɛt.ə.fɔː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈmɛt.ə.foɹ/, /ˈmɛt.ə.fɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is partly [[bor|frm|metaphore]] (Old French [[m|fro|metafore]], about 1275) and partly [[bor|la|metaphora]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[der|grc|μεταφορά|tr=metaphorá|t=a transfer, especially of the sense of one word to another]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|μεταφέρω|tr=metaphérō|t=to carry over, transfer]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD 2024) formed from [[m|grc|μετά|tr=metá|t=over, across]] and [[m|grc|φέρω|tr=phérō|t=to carry, bear]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024) from [[ine-pro|*bʰer-|t=to carry]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) The Greek word is thus, literally, "a carrying over",^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) and is related to English [[bear]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) [[m|it|metafora]] (before 1375) and [[m|es|metáfora]] come from the same source.^(OED 2026) The early English form [[m|enm|methaphor]] later took the classical spelling.^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something it does not literally mean, to suggest a likeness: about 1477, in Thomas Norton's ''Ordinal of Alchemy'',^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) as the plural ''methaphoris''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has kept its sense of a figure of speech since the 15th century.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) called it a simile packed into a single word, with examples such as ''he bridles his anger''.^(Johnson 1755) From 1836, in Emerson's ''Nature'', it was also used for something that stands for something else, especially a material thing that represents an abstract idea; a symbol.^(OED 2026) The phrase ''mixed metaphor'' is recorded in the Shorter Oxford,^(SOED 2002) and Weekley uses it for a ludicrous jumble of images.^(Weekley 1921) The adjective ''metaphorical'' is recorded from before 1555.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1275 – Old French metafore.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1477 – a figure of speech transferring a word to another object.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1555 – ''metaphorical''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1836 – a symbol of something else.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[figure of speech]] in which a word or phrase for one thing is used of another to suggest that they are alike, without ''like'' or ''as'': ''Calling the classroom a zoo is a metaphor.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Something used to stand for something else; a [[symbol]]: ''The empty house became a metaphor for his loneliness.''^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Such figures of speech in general; figurative language.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metaphoric]]

+ * [[metaphorically]]

+ * [[metaphoricalness]]

+ * [[dead metaphor]]

+ * [[mixed metaphor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[simile]]

+ * [[analogy]]

+ * [[bear]]

+ * [[meta-]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A metaphor is usually set against a [[simile]], which states the comparison openly.^(Collins 2023)^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}