trope means something recurring across a genre or type of art or literature; a motif. It carries an Arena rating of 1547, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, trope ranks #84 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #395 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #411 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,368 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
trope is pronounced /tɹəʊp/.
Why “trope” is a great word
A recurring theme, motif, or figurative use of language, especially as a convention in a particular artistic genre. From Latin tropus ("figure of speech"), from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, "a turn, way, manner, or figurative mode of speech"), from τρέπειν (trépein, "to turn"), first attested in English in the 1530s. Unlike a cliché, which is a depleted coin, or an archetype, which is a bedrock symbol from the collective deep, a trope is the versatile timber and dressed stone of narrative construction. It is the creak of floorboards before the scream, the lone hero riding into a dusty town, the final embrace before the credits—a familiar turn in the story's road that, in skilled hands, can still surprise with a sudden bend into shadow, proving originality lies not in the brick, but in the architecture.
Etymology
From Latin tropus, from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a manner, style, turn, way; a trope or figure of speech; a mode in music; a mode or mood in logic”), related to τροπή (tropḗ, “solstice; trope; turn”) and τρέπειν (trépein, “to turn”); compare turn of phrase. The verb is derived from the noun.
noun
- Something recurring across a genre or type of art or literature; a motif.
- An addition (of dialogue, song, music, etc.) to a standard element of the liturgy, serving as an embellishment.e.g.“Usually known as 'tropes,' these interpolations consisted at first of but a few words; those of the Introit at the beginning of Mass on great festivals, however, often took the form of dialogues.” — 1918, Paul Studer, Le mystère d'Adam, an Anglo-Norman drama of the twelfth century:
- A figure of speech in which words or phrases are used with a nonliteral or figurative meaning, such as a metaphor.e.g.“Since the tories have thus disappointed my hopes, / And will neither regard my figures nor tropes; I'll speech against peace while Dismal's my name, / And be a true whig, while I'm Not-in-game.” — 1711 [December?] (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Excellent New Song. Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator against Peace [i.e., Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham].”, in Thomas Sheridan,
- Mathematical senses.; A tangent space meeting a quartic surface in a conic.
- Mathematical senses.; The reciprocal of a node on a surface.
- Musical senses.; A short cadence at the end of the melody in some early music.
- Musical senses.; A pair of complementary hexachords in twelve-tone technique.
- Musical senses.; A cantillation pattern, or one of the marks that represents it.
- Philosophical senses.; Any of the ten arguments used in skepticism to refute dogmatism.
- Philosophical senses.; A particular instance of a property (such as the specific redness of a rose), as contrasted with a universal.
verb
- To use, or embellish something with, a trope.
- Senses relating chiefly to art or literature.; To represent something figuratively or metaphorically, especially as a literary motif.
- Senses relating chiefly to art or literature.; To turn into, coin, or create a new trope.e.g.“I troped the World Wide Web as an especially dangerous research venue. "Don't pick up anything unless you know where it has been," I said.” — 2009, Julie Clark Simon, “Voiceprinting: How Its Failures Speak”, in Emily Golson, Toni Glover, editors, Negotiating a Meta-pedagogy: Learning from Other Disciplines, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wea
- Senses relating chiefly to art or literature.; To analyse a work in terms of its literary tropes.
- To think or write in terms of tropes.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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