metaleptically
- adverb
- /ˌmɛtəˈlɛptɪkli/
- Literature
- In her lecture, she explained how metaphors can work metaleptically, linking concepts in unexpected and imaginative ways.
Examples
-
Moreover, "twilight" and "clouded sky" can be read metaleptically; they are versions of the synecdochal "snow puddles," parts standing for an entire liminal scene.
Academic text (1997) -
Metaleptically, syllepsis indirectly tropes the absent speaker into an electric circuit whose energy has merged with the earth's, a circuit empty of its own energy.
Academic text (1997) -
This is the end of Gerald's writing block, and at the same time, his interlocutor is metaleptically transformed from a diegetic character, narrated in the third person, into the extradiegetic narrator of a first-person narration.
Academic text (2003) -
The poem uses the word metaleptically, inviting the reader to think of adventure and exploration rather than just the literal fabric.
-
The artist referenced classical themes metaleptically, using modern imagery to evoke deep philosophical ideas.
Synonyms
1
7.9
In an indirect way that hints at something
How Indirect
Surface Forms
Morphology
metaleptically = metaleptic (opaque) = metalept + ic + ly
The adverb is formed by the ordinary -ly suffix, but the base adjective is a specialized rhetorical term rather than a transparent everyday word.
Etymology
Metaleptically comes from meta- meaning 'beyond' and lepsis meaning 'taking'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of ideas being 'taken' along a chain of small links, so referring to something by a series of indirect connections is doing it metaleptically.