| 释义 |
metaphor|ˈmɛtəfə(r)|
Forms: α. 6–7 metaphore, (6 metafor), 6– metaphor. β. 6–7 metaphora.
[a. F. métaphore, ad. L. metaphora, a. Gr. µεταϕορά, f. µεταϕέρειν to transfer, f. µετα- meta-1 + ϕέρειν (root ϕερ- : ϕορ-) to bear, carry.]
The figure of speech in which a name or descriptive term is transferred to some object different from, but analogous to, that to which it is properly applicable; an instance of this, a metaphorical expression. mixed metaphor: see quot. 1824.
α1533Hen. VIII in Wotton Lett. (1654) Suppl. 8 And rather then men would note a lye when they know what is meant, they will sooner by allegory or metaphor draw the word to the truth. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 91 b, A metaphor is an alteration of a woorde from the proper and naturall meanynge, to that whiche is not proper, and yet agreeth therunto, by some lykenes that appeareth to be in it. 1555Bonner Homilies 71* Chryste alwayes in hys speakynge dyd vse fygures, metaphores and tropes. 1563Mirr. for Mag., Collingbourne xxxvii, These metafors I vse with other more. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. ix. 247 An horn is the hieroglyphick of authority, power, & dignity, and in this Metaphor is often used in Scripture. 1712Addison Spect. No 289 ⁋8 Those beautiful Metaphors in Scripture, where Life is termed a Pilgrimage. 1821Lamb Elia Ser. i. Imperf. Sympathies, He stops a metaphor like a suspected person in an enemy's country. ‘A healthy book!’..‘Did I catch rightly what you said?’ 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 493 We should avoid making two inconsistent metaphors meet on one object. This is what is called mixed metaphor. 1841Trench Parables i. (1877) 9 The allegory stands to the metaphor,..in the same relation that the parable does to the..simile. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. xvi. (1877) 265 The metaphor of the poet is perfectly true in fact, for life is a stage.
β1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 77 Metaphora, which is, when a word from the proper or right signification is transferred to another neere vnto the meaning. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. 11. Babylon 369 Better then Greek with her..Fit Epithets, and fine Metaphora's. 1650Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 175 The Metaphora, which is so frequent with them,..is it not an imposture?
b. Comb., as metaphor-making, metaphor-monger.
1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 46 These indiscreet and horrid metaphor-mongers. 1889Mivart Orig. Hum. Reason 273 This power of metaphor-making.
Senses a,b in Dict. become 1,3. Add: 2. Something regarded as representative or suggestive of something else, esp. as a material emblem of an abstract quality, condition, notion, etc.; a symbol, a token. Freq. const. for, of.
1864W. Arnot Parab. our Lord iv. 119 The serpent, as a metaphor, was in practice as completely thirled to the indication of evil, as leaven had been. 1881H. James Washington Square xxxii. 241 If your leg is a metaphor for young Townsend, I can assure you he has never been crushed... He is alive and perfectly intact. 1909J. London in Sat. Even. Post 22 May 3/1 North of the Slot were the theaters, hotels, and shopping district... South of the Slot were the factories, slums, laundries, machine-shops, boiler works, and the abodes of the working class. The Slot was the metaphor that expressed the class cleavage of Society. 1962Times 20 Dec. 11/1 The great joy of a novelist is that..he can create his own metaphor of the universe. 1978P. Griffiths Conc. Hist. Mod. Mus. viii. 121 Mahagonny is thus a parable of modern society, a work in which the bitter, commercialized sounds of jazz..stand as a metaphor for the corrupt condition of the capitalist state. 1984H. Jacobson Peeping Tom (1985) i. iv. 113 The central metaphor for Tess's confusions is the threshing-machine. 1991Art in America Apr. 160/3 The Rococo style becomes a metaphor about the denial through prettification of our often exploitative relationship to nature. |