What is a metaphor?

Here are two senses of metaphor:

1. A metaphor is the expression of an understanding of one concept in terms of another concept, where there is some similarity or correlation between the two.
2. A metaphor is the understanding itself of one concept in terms of another.

• What is a conventional metaphor?
• What are mixed metaphors?
• What is a new metaphor?

• What is a trope?

Johnson 1981b 4, 18–27, 43

Beekman and Callow 1974 124

Mish 1991 746

Lakoff, G. 1987 388–389

Context for this page:

• Concept module: metaphor
• In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): M
• In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
• In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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