metaphor

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: met=a=phor

CIDE DICTIONARY

metaphor, n. [F. métaphore, L. metaphora, fr. Gr. metafora`, fr. metafe`rein to carry over, transfer; meta` beyond, over + fe`rein to bring, bear.].

 The transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation; a compressed simile; e. g., the ship plows the sea.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
" The statement, “that man is a fox,” is a metaphor; but “that man is like a fox,” is a simile, similitude, or comparison."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

metaphor, n.
1 the application of a name or descriptive term or phrase to an object or action to which it is imaginatively but not literally applicable (e.g. a glaring error).
2 an instance of this.

Derivative

metaphoric adj. metaphorical adj. metaphorically adv.

Etymology

F m{eacute}taphore or L metaphora f. Gk metaphora f. metaphero transfer

THESAURUS

metaphor

accordance, agent, agreement, alikeness, allegory, alliance, alliteration, allusion, alternate, alternative, anacoluthon, anadiplosis, analogue, analogy, anaphora, anastrophe, antiphrasis, antithesis, antonomasia, aping, apophasis, aporia, aposiopesis, apostrophe, approach, approximation, assimilation, backup, balancing, catachresis, change, changeling, chiasmus, circumlocution, climax, closeness, community, comparability, comparative anatomy, comparative degree, comparative grammar, comparative judgment, comparative linguistics, comparative literature, comparative method, compare, comparing, comparison, conformity, confrontation, confrontment, contrast, contrastiveness, conversion, copy, copying, correlation, correspondence, counterfeit, deputy, distinction, distinctiveness, double, dummy, ecphonesis, emphasis, equal, equivalent, ersatz, exchange, exclamation, fake, figure of speech, fill-in, gemination, ghost, ghostwriter, hypallage, hyperbaton, hyperbole, identity, image, imagery, imitation, inversion, irony, likeness, likening, litotes, locum tenens, makeshift, malapropism, matching, meiosis, metonymy, mimicking, nearness, next best thing, onomatopoeia, opposing, opposition, oxymoron, parallelism, paregmenon, parenthesis, parity, periphrasis, personification, personnel, phony, pinch hitter, pleonasm, preterition, prolepsis, proportion, proxy, reference, regression, relation, relief, repetition, replacement, representative, resemblance, reserves, ringer, sameness, sarcasm, second string, secondary, semblance, sign, similarity, simile, similitude, simulation, spares, spoonerism, stand-in, sub, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, superseder, supplanter, surrogate, syllepsis, symbol, symbolism, symploce, synecdoche, third string, token, trope, trope of comparison, understudy, utility player, vicar, vice-president, vice-regent, weighing, zeugma

ROGET THESAURUS

metaphor

Substitution

N substitution, commutation, supplanting, metaphor, metonymy, substitute, ersatz, makeshift, temporary expedient, replacement, succedaneum, shift, pis aller, stopgap, jury rigging, jury mast, locum tenens, warming pan, dummy, scapegoat, double, changeling, quid pro quo, alternative, representative, palimpsest, price, purchase money, consideration, equivalent, substituted, ersatz, phony, vicarious, subdititious, instead, in place of, in lieu of, in the stead of, in the room of, faute de mieux.

Analogy

N analogy, association, association of ideas, metaphor, analogical thinking, free association, train of thought, analogical.

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, 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.