metalepsis
noun
Forms metalepses
- noun (rhetoric) A rhetorical device whereby one word is metonymically substituted for another word which is itself a metonym; more broadly, a metaphor consisting of a series of embedded metonyms or rhetorical substitutions.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin metalēpsis, from Ancient Greek μετάληψις (metálēpsis, “succession”), from Ancient Greek μετά (metá, “after”) and λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The continuation of a trope in one word through a succession of significations, or the union of two or more tropes of a different kind in one word.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “metalepsis”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details