Metaphoricalize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

  1. Expressing an idea through metaphor, presenting something as a figure of speech rather than in literal terms
  2. Recasting a literal subject in figurative language so that it stands for something beyond its plain meaning
  3. Turning a concrete thing or plain statement into a metaphor, describing it by way of imagery and symbolic comparison

Etymology: The formation of this word is a clear example of English’s capacity for compounding and affixation to create nuanced meanings. It begins with the root "metaphor," a term borrowed from Greek "metaphora," which means "transfer" or "carry over." The original Greek word combines "meta-" meaning "over, across" and "pherein," meaning "to carry." In rhetoric, a metaphor involves carrying meaning from one domain to another, allowing an idea or object to represent something else symbolically. Adding the suffix "-ical" transforms the noun "metaphor" into the adjective "metaphorical," which characterizes something as relating to or resembling a metaphor. This adjectival form emerged in English by the late 17th or early 18th century as writers and thinkers sought to describe language and expressions that invoke symbolic or figurative meanings. The final suffix "-ize" turns adjectives or nouns into verbs, indicating the action of causing to become or to subject to a process. The verb form "metaphoricalize" thus means to render something metaphorical or to express it through metaphor. This kind of verb formation is relatively recent and somewhat rare, arising from the modern tendency to generate verbs from adjectives to capture dynamic processes in language, thought, or art. Although the precise date of first use is uncertain, the word likely appeared in the 20th century within literary or critical discourse, where scholars needed a verb to describe the act of creating or interpreting metaphors. Its layered morphology—root, adjective-forming suffix, and verb-forming suffix—reflects English’s flexibility in word-building to meet conceptual needs. Overall, this term encapsulates a process central to human cognition and communication: shaping ideas by transferring meaning across contexts, a process as old as language itself but given fresh verbal form in contemporary usage.

Synonyms: metaphorize, figurativize