catachresis

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English

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Alternative forms

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin catachrēsis, borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse (of a word)”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

catachresis (countable and uncountable, plural catachreses)

  1. A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.[1]
    1. (often, especially) Such a misuse involving some similarity of sound between the misused word and the appropriate word.
  2. (rhetoric) A misapplication or overextension of a figurative or analogical description; a wrongly applied metaphor or trope.[1]
    • Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, , Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC, page 14:
      A Catachresis terms abused receives,
      And epithets and attributes improper gives.      ]

Synonyms

  • (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

Translations

See also

  • 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

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “‖catachresis” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse (of a word)”).

Pronunciation

Noun

catachrēsis f (genitive catachrēsis); third declension

  1. (New Latin) catachresis

Descendants

  • → English: catachresis
  • → French: catachrèse f
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