Metaphor
A figure of speech that describes one thing in terms of another, inviting an understood comparison without stating it literally.
Simile: A figure of speech that compares unlike things explicitly, often using “like” or “as.” Unlike metaphor, simile marks the comparison with an explicit signal.
Conceptual metaphor: A systematic mapping in which one conceptual domain is understood through another. It explains how linguistic metaphors can reflect broader patterns of thought.
Aristotle: An ancient Greek philosopher whose works shaped Western traditions in logic, science, ethics, and poetics. His account in the Poetics remains an early influential analysis of metaphor.
Poetry: Literary art that uses patterned language, sound, and form to create concentrated expression. Poetry often uses metaphor to compress emotion and meaning into images.
Metonymy: A figure of speech that names something through a closely associated thing or concept. Metonymy relies on association, whereas metaphor typically links distinct domains by resemblance or analogy.
Tenor and vehicle: The tenor is the subject described by a metaphor; the vehicle is the source image used to describe it. These terms identify the two sides that a metaphor brings together.
Interaction theory of metaphor: A theory that explains metaphor through the interaction of a subject and a figurative vehicle. It treats metaphorical meaning as an effect of the two terms interacting.
Poetics (Aristotle): Aristotle’s treatise on poetry, including tragedy, epic, and the use of language. It defines metaphor through the transfer of a name from one thing to another.
Scientific model: A simplified representation used to describe, explain, or predict aspects of the natural or social world. Metaphorical models can make unfamiliar scientific processes intelligible while also limiting interpretation.
Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part represents a whole or a whole represents a part. Its part–whole relation differs from metaphor’s cross-domain comparison.