metalepsis means 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1643, earned across 73 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, metalepsis ranks #870 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,200 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #2,275 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,565 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
Why “metalepsis” is a great word
METALEPSIS — [Noun] A rhetorical figure involving the metonymic substitution of one word for another which is itself a metonym, creating a chain of associative meaning. From the Latin metalēpsis, from the Ancient Greek μετάληψις (metálēpsis, "succession, participation"), from μετά (metá, "after, with") and λαμβάνω (lambánō, "to take"); first attested in English 1580–90. Unlike "metonymy" (a direct substitution of cause for effect) or "catachresis" (a strained, clumsy misuse of a word), metalepsis is a deliberate and subtle layering of figurative steps. It is the faint scent of cedar from an open hope chest, evoking a grandmother's hands, which in turn stands for an entire lost childhood; it is the gleam of a "sickle" evoking the harvest, the season of autumn, and the approach of death; it is hearing "a lead foot" and thinking not of the appendage but of the pedal it presses and the speeding driver it signifies. The device operates like a series of doors, each opened to reveal another door, until the final meaning is felt in the bones—a testament to how language, at its most artful, is a game of whispers passed between veils.
Etymology
From Latin metalēpsis, from Ancient Greek μετάληψις (metálēpsis, “succession”), from Ancient Greek μετά (metá, “after”) and λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).
noun
- 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.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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