metafora

Metafora is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable, in order to suggest a resemblance or shared quality. The word derives from the Greek meta- 'beyond' and pherein 'to carry', meaning a transfer of name from one object to another. Metaphor is a foundational device in poetry, literature, and everyday language, present in many languages with varying conventions.

Unlike a simile, which makes a comparison using like or as, a metafora asserts a direct equivalence: Time is a thief; love is a battlefield. In a metaphor, one domain is described in terms of another, without linguistic marks of comparison. Through this transfer, unfamiliar ideas can be made more tangible, and emotional or aesthetic effects can be heightened.

Types include explicit metaphors (a target term described by a vehicle: "the classroom was a zoo"), implicit or concealed metaphors where the relation is suggested rather than stated, and extended metaphors that run across a passage or entire work. Dead metaphors are clichés that have lost vividness through overuse, while mixed metaphors combine incompatible images and can produce incongruous effects.

Functions include enriching imagery, facilitating the communication of abstract concepts by anchoring them in concrete experience, and shaping readers’ or listeners’ understanding. Metaphor also serves rhetorical purposes, contributing to mood, persuasion, and stylistic character. In linguistics and cognitive science, metaphor is studied as a fundamental mechanism of thought, highlighting how everyday language relies on cross-domain mappings between physical and conceptual realms.

Historically, metaphor appears in classical rhetoric; Aristotle discusses it in his Rhetoric and Poetics. Later traditions and modern cognitive theories have expanded its analysis, underscoring its central role in language and culture.