métaphore

A métaphore is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, in order to suggest a resemblance or convey symbolic meaning.

Etymology and usage: the term comes from Greek metaphora, from meta- “over” and pherein “to carry.” The concept is used across languages, with the French term métaphore closely aligning to the English word metaphor.

Distinctions: unlike a simile, which makes a comparison with words such as like or as, a métaphore makes a direct, implicit transfer of meaning, treating one domain as if it were another. It is distinct from allegory, which conveys a broader narrative through symbolic figures, and from metonymy, which substitutes a related object or concept for another.

Types and forms: there are direct metaphors (the heart is a pump), and extended metaphors or métaphores filées, which sustain the comparison across passages or to entire works. Mixed metaphors combine incompatible images and can be either deliberate or faulty.

Function and interpretation: metaphors enrich language by creating imagery, signaling attitudes, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. In cognitive linguistics, metaphor theory analyzes how people understand abstract concepts through structured mappings from concrete experience, a view that has influenced literary analysis and everyday language alike.

Examples: common metaphors include “Time is a thief” and “The classroom was a zoo.” These expressions reveal how metaphor organizes perception and meaning.

See also: allegory, metonymy, personification, simile. Historical treatments date to Aristotle, who discussed metaphor as a central rhetorical and cognitive device; modern theory includes conceptual metaphor research by Lakoff and Johnson.