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Old French, Latin and Greek
- The English word metaphor has its roots in Old French, Latin and Greek, dating back as far as the late 15th century. The French word métaphore is practically identical. The Latin metaphora means "carrying over," while the Greek metaphero combines the terms "meta" - between - and "phero" - to bear or carry.
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Nov 21, 2023 · Metaphor has a long history, extending back as far as 2,500 BC, moving through familiar landmarks like Homer and Milton. One of the Greek poet Homer's best-known metaphors is the phrase "rosy-fingered dawn," which immediately evokes images of streaky pink light filling the horizon.
Oct 13, 2021 · "figure of speech by which a characteristic of one object is assigned to another, different but resembling it or analogous to it; comparison by transference of a descriptive word or phrase," late 15c., methaphoris (plural), from French metaphore (Old French metafore, 13c.) and directly from Latin metaphora, from Greek metaphora "a transfer ...
The earliest known use of the noun metaphor is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for metaphor is from before 1500, in the writing of Thomas Norton, alchemist.
The English word metaphor derives from the 16th-century Old French word métaphore, which comes from the Latin metaphora, 'carrying over', and in turn from the Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), 'transference (of ownership)', [8] from μεταφέρω (metapherō), 'to carry over, to transfer' [9] and that from μετά (meta), 'behind, along ...
Dec 15, 2023 · The word “metaphor” comes from the Greek word ‘metaphora’, which is derived from ‘metapherein’, meaning ‘to transfer’ or ‘to carry over’. This Greek term itself is composed of two parts: ‘meta-‘, meaning ‘over, across’ or ‘beyond’, and ‘pherein’, meaning ‘to carry’ or ‘to bear’.
Jun 2, 2024 · metaphor (countable and uncountable, plural metaphors) (uncountable, rhetoric) The use of a word or phrase to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word or phrase.
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Nov 13, 2024 · A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Recorded from the late 15th century, the word comes via French and Latin from Greek metaphora, from metapherein ‘to transfer’.
