Word Study
catachresis
CIDE DICTIONARY
catachresis, n. [L. fr. Gr. misuse, fr. to misuse; kata` against + to use.].
A figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, “To take arms against a sea of troubles”. Shak. “Her voice was but the shadow of a sound.” Young. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
catachresis, n. (pl. catachreses) an incorrect use of words.
Derivative
catachrestic adj.
Etymology
L f. Gk katakhresis f. khraomai use
ROGET THESAURUS
catachresis
Metaphor
N metaphor, figure of speech, facon de parler, way of speaking, colloquialism, phrase, figure, trope, metaphor, enallage, catachresis, metonymy, synecdoche, autonomasia, irony, figurativeness, image, imagery, metalepsis, type, anagoge, simile, personification, prosopopoeia, allegory, apologue, parable, fable, allusion, adumbration, application, exaggeration, hyperbole, association, association of ideas (analogy), metaphorical, figurative, catachrestical, typical, tralatitious, parabolic, allegorical, allusive, anagogical, ironical, colloquial, tropical, so to speak, so to say, so to express oneself, as it were, mutato nomine de te fabula narratur.Misinterpretation
N misinterpretation, misapprehension, misunderstanding, misacceptation, misconstruction, misapplication, catachresis, eisegesis, cross-reading, cross-purposes, mistake, misrepresentation, perversion, exaggeration, false coloring, false construction, abuse of terms, parody, travesty, falsification, misinterpreted, untranslated, untranslatable.For further exploring for "catachresis" in Webster Dictionary Online
