metaforie

Metaforie is a rhetorical figure in which the terms or attributes of one thing are applied to another, creating an implicit comparison that highlights similarities or conveys a new meaning. In many linguistic traditions, metaforie is closely aligned with the concept of metaphor, although some authors distinguish metaforie as a broader or more abstract class of figurative language that emphasizes substitution or identification rather than explicit comparison. Metaforie can be direct, where X is Y (The mind is a machine), or implicit, where the relationship is suggested through language rather than stated. It can also be extended, forming an extended metaphor that runs through a passage or text, and it can be dead or conventional when the imagery has become so familiar that it is no longer actively recognized as figurative.

Metaforie serves several functions: it communicates complex ideas quickly, shapes imagery and mood, and encodes cultural associations. In poetry, prose, and rhetoric, authors use metaforie to evoke emotion, articulate abstract concepts, or critique social norms. Visual metaforie appear in art and design when images stand in for ideas (for example, a thorn as a symbol of danger). Across languages, metaforie reflects cognitive processes that map experiences from one domain onto another, a notion central to conceptual metaphor theory.

Etymology: the term derives from Greek metaphorē through Latin and into modern usage. See also metaphor, simile, allegory, and figure of speech.