Metaphrase
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A literal, word-for-word translation.
- 2 An answering phrase; repartee.
"I'm somewhat dull still in the manly art Of phrase and metaphrase. Why, any man Can carve a score of white Loves out of snow, As Buonarroti down in Florence there, And set them on the wall in some safe shade […]"
Verb
- 1 To make such a literal translation.
Example
More examples"I'm somewhat dull still in the manly art Of phrase and metaphrase. Why, any man Can carve a score of white Loves out of snow, As Buonarroti down in Florence there, And set them on the wall in some safe shade […]"
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μεταφράζομαι (metaphrázomai, “consider after”). By surface analysis, meta- + phrase.
Related phrases
More for "metaphrase"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.