'''Metaphor''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''μεταφορά'' - ''metaphora'', meaning "transfer") is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. In the simplest case, this takes the form: "The ''[first subject]'' is a ''[second subject]''." More generally, a metaphor is a [[rhetoric]]al [[Trope (linguistics)|trope]] that describes a first subject as ''being'' or ''equal to'' a second subject in some way. Thus, the first subject can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second subject are used to enhance the description of the first. This device is known for usage in [[literature]], especially in [[poetry]], where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. | '''Metaphor''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''μεταφορά'' - ''metaphora'', meaning "transfer") is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. In the simplest case, this takes the form: "The ''[first subject]'' is a ''[second subject]''." More generally, a metaphor is a [[rhetoric]]al [[Trope (linguistics)|trope]] that describes a first subject as ''being'' or ''equal to'' a second subject in some way. Thus, the first subject can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second subject are used to enhance the description of the first. This device is known for usage in [[literature]], especially in [[poetry]], where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. |