In linguistics, trope is a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e., using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. The other major category of figures of speech is the scheme, which involves changing the pattern of words in a sentence. Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric has been contested since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in Universities. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ...

Trope comes from the Greek word, tropos, which means a "turn". We can imagine a trope as a way of turning a word away from its normal meaning, or turning it into something else.

Types

• metonymy — a trope through proximity or correspondence, for example referring to actions of the US President as "actions of the White House".
• irony — creating a trope through implying the opposite of the standard meaning, such as describing poverty as "good times".
• metaphor — an explanation of an object or idea through juxaposition of disparate things with a similar characteristic, such as describing a courageous person as having a "heart of oak".
• synecdoche — related to metonymy and metaphor, creates a play on words by referring to something with a related concept: for example, referring to the whole with the name of a part, such as "hired hands" for workers; a part with the name of the whole, such as "the law" for police officers; the general with the specific, such as "bread" for food; the specific with the general, such as "cat" for a lion; or an object with the material it is made from, such as "bricks and mortar" for a building.

In rhetoric, metonymy is the substitution of one word for another word with which it is associated. ... Irony, from the Greek εἴρων (iron), is a literary or rhetorical device made of iron, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). ... Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up synecdoche in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Trope