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What Is A Metaphor
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

met·a·phor

Audio Help [met-uh-fawr, -fer] Pronunciation Key

–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

Audio Help [met-uh-fawr-i-kuh

l, -for-] Pronunciation Key, met·a·phor·ic, adjective

met·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverb

met·a·phor·i·cal·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
metaphor

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

met·a·phor Audio Help (mět'ə-fôr', -fər) Pronunciation Key
n.

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).
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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

metaphor
noun
a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
metaphor [ˈmetəfə] noun

a form of expression (not using `like' or `as')in which a quality or characteristic is given to a person or thing by using a name, image, adjective etc normally used of something else which has similar qualities etc
Example: `He's a tiger when he's angry' is an example of (a) metaphor.

Arabic:	إسْتِعارَه، مَجاز
Chinese (Simplified):	隐喻
Chinese (Traditional):	隱喻, 暗喻
Czech:	metafora
Danish:	metafor
Dutch:	beeldspraak
Estonian:	metafoor
Finnish:	metafora
French:	métaphore
German:	die Metapher
Greek:	μεταφορά (γραμμ.)
Hungarian:	metafora
Icelandic:	myndhvörf, -hverfing, -líking
Indonesian:	metafora
Italian:	metafora

Japanese:	たとえ
Korean:	은유, 비유
Latvian:	metafora
Lithuanian:	metafora
Norwegian:	metafor
Polish:	metafora
Portuguese (Brazil):	metáfora
Portuguese (Portugal):	metáfora
Romanian:	metaforă
Russian:	метафора
Slovak:	metafora
Slovenian:	metafora
Spanish:	metáfora
Swedish:	metafor
Turkish:	mecaz, benzetme

See also: metaphoric(al)

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.)

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Metaphor

Met"a*phor\, n. [F. m['e]taphore, L. metaphora, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to carry over, transfer; meta` beyond, over + fe`rein to bring, bear.] (Rhet.) 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. --Abbott & Seeley. "All the world's a stage." --Shak.

Note: The statement, "that man is a fox," is a metaphor; but "that man is like a fox," is a simile, similitude, or comparison.

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