catachresis
English
editAlternative forms
edit- catechresis, katachresis (both 17th century; obsolete)[1]
Etymology
editLearned borrowing from Latin catachrēsis, borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse (of a word)”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌkæt.əˈkɹiː.sɪs/
Noun
editcatachresis (countable and uncountable, plural catachreses)
- A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.[1]
- (often, especially) Such a misuse involving some similarity of sound between the misused word and the appropriate word.
- (rhetoric) A misapplication or overextension of figurative or analogical description; a wrongly applied metaphor or trope.[1]
Synonyms
edit- (misuse of a word, with similar sounds): malapropism (this word is sometimes used in a way hyponymic to catachresis, in which sense only absurd and laughable catachreses are malapropisms)
- ((rhetoric) bad metaphor or trope): abusio
Related terms
editTranslations
editmisuse of a word
(rhetoric) bad metaphor or trope
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See also
edit- eggcorn
- misnomer (a word that is well-known to seem to refer to something other than its referent but is nonetheless usually correct)
- phantonym (a word that invites catachrestic use because of its sound or appearance)
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “‖catachresis” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
Latin
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse (of a word)”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /kaˈta.kʰre.sis/, [käˈt̪äkʰrɛs̠ɪs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /kaˈta.kre.sis/, [käˈt̪äːkres̬is]
Noun
editcatachrēsis f (genitive catachrēsis); third declension
Descendants
edit- → English: catachresis
- → French: catachrèse f
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English learned borrowings from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Rhetoric
- English terms with quotations
- English terms prefixed with cata-
- en:Figures of speech
- Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Latin 4-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin third declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the third declension
- Latin feminine nouns
- New Latin