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metaphor

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met⋅a⋅phor

  [met-uh-fawr, -fer]
Use metaphor in a Sentence
–noun
1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.” Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def. 1).
2. something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.
Origin:
1525–35; < L metaphora < Gk metaphorá a transfer, akin to metaphérein to transfer. See meta-, -phore

Related forms:
met⋅a⋅phor⋅i⋅cal  [met-uh-fawr-i-kuhl, -for-] , met⋅a⋅phor⋅ic, adjective
met⋅a⋅phor⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
met⋅a⋅phor⋅i⋅cal⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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met·a·phor   (mět'ə-fôr', -fər)   
n.  

  1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare).

  2. One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol: "Hollywood has always been an irresistible, prefabricated metaphor for the crass, the materialistic, the shallow, and the craven" (Neal Gabler).


[Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
met'a·phor'ic (-fôr'ĭk, -fŏr'-), met'a·phor'i·cal adj., met'a·phor'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

metaphor

The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as: “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.” Metaphors are common in literature and expansive speech. (Compare simile.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

metaphor 
1533, from M.Fr. metaphore, from L. metaphora, from Gk. metaphora "a transfer," especially of the sense of one word to a different word, lit. "a carrying over," from metapherein "transfer, carry over," from meta- "over, across" (see meta-) + pherein "to carry, bear" (see infer).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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