trope


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trope

 (trōp)
n.
1. A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor.
2. A word or phrase interpolated as an embellishment in the sung parts of certain medieval liturgies.

[Latin tropus, from Greek tropos, turn, figure of speech; see trep- in Indo-European roots.]

trop′i·cal (trō′pĭ-kəl) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

trope

(trəʊp)
n
1. (Rhetoric) rhetoric a word or expression used in a figurative sense
2. (Music, other) an interpolation of words or music into the plainsong settings of the Roman Catholic liturgy
[C16: from Latin tropus figurative use of a word, from Greek tropos style, turn; related to trepein to turn]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

trope

(troʊp)

n.
1.
a. any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense.
b. an instance of this.
2. a phrase, sentence, or verse formerly interpolated in a liturgical text to amplify or embellish.
[1525–35; < Latin tropus figure in rhetoric < Greek trópos turn, turn or figure of speech, akin to trépein to turn]

-trope

a combining form meaning “one turned toward” that specified by the initial element (heliotrope); also occurring in concrete nouns that correspond to abstract nouns ending in -tropy or -tropism: allotrope.
[< Greek -tropos; see trope, tropo-]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

trope

- A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or phrase.
See also related terms for metaphor.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.trope - language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
cakewalk - an easy accomplishment; "winning the tournament was a cakewalk for him"; "invading Iraq won't be a cakewalk"
blind alley - (figurative) a course of action that is unproductive and offers no hope of improvement; "all the clues led the police into blind alleys"; "so far every road that we've been down has turned out to be a blind alley"
megahit, smash hit, blockbuster - an unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording or novel)
sleeper - an unexpected hit; "that movie was the sleeper of the summer"
home run, bell ringer, bull's eye, mark - something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal; "the new advertising campaign was a bell ringer"; "scored a bull's eye"; "hit the mark"; "the president's speech was a home run"
housecleaning - (figurative) the act of reforming by the removal of unwanted personnel or practices or conditions; "more housecleaning is in store at other accounting firms"; "many employees were discharged in a general housecleaning by the new owners"
goldbrick - anything that is supposed to be valuable but turns out to be worthless
lens - (metaphor) a channel through which something can be seen or understood; "the writer is the lens through which history can be seen"
rhetorical device - a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)
conceit - an elaborate poetic image or a far-fetched comparison of very dissimilar things
irony - a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
exaggeration, hyperbole - extravagant exaggeration
kenning - conventional metaphoric name for something, used especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry
metaphor - a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
metonymy - substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')
oxymoron - conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')
prosopopoeia, personification - representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature
simile - a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')
synecdoche - substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa
zeugma - use of a word to govern two or more words though appropriate to only one; "`Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave' is an example of zeugma"
domino effect - the consequence of one event setting off a chain of similar events (like a falling domino causing a whole row of upended dominos to fall)
flip side - a different aspect of something (especially the opposite aspect); "the flip side of your positive qualities sometimes get out of control"; "on the flip side of partnerships he talked about their competition"
period - the end or completion of something; "death put a period to his endeavors"; "a change soon put a period to my tranquility"
summer - the period of finest development, happiness, or beauty; "the golden summer of his life"
dawn - an opening time period; "it was the dawn of the Roman Empire"
evening - a later concluding time period; "it was the evening of the Roman Empire"
rainy day - a (future) time of financial need; "I am saving for a rainy day"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

trope

[trəʊp] Ntropo m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

trope

n (Liter) → Trope f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
Next, and before the Norman Conquest, the Gospel dialog between the angel and the three Marys at the tomb of Christ came sometimes to be chanted by the choir in those responses which are called 'tropes':
As the limestone of the continent consists of infinite masses of the shells of animalcules, so language is made up of images or tropes, which now, in their secondary use, have long ceased to remind us of their poetic origin.
This is the effect on us of tropes, fables, oracles, and all poetic forms.
An imaginative book renders us much more service at first, by stimulating us through its tropes, than afterward when we arrive at the precise sense of the author.
And though our tropes of fairyland be mixed with those of entomology they shall not spill one drop of ambrosia from the rose-crowned melody of Maggie's one perfect night.
Not that I wanted beans to eat, for I am by nature a Pythagorean, so far as beans are concerned, whether they mean porridge or voting, and exchanged them for rice; but, perchance, as some must work in fields if only for the sake of tropes and expression, to serve a parable-maker one day.
The bitter check had wrung from me some tears; and now, as I sat poring over the crabbed characters and flourishing tropes of an Indian scribe, my eyes filled again.
However, the invaluable strengths of the chronological structure is an implicit argument that Trope creates throughout Stardust Monuments.
"The Trope Teacher" is an allegorical tale structured around the fate of Isaac Zapiski, an observant Ashkenazi Jew who makes his living in the United States by teaching "trope"--the punctuation marks for musical motifs and tones used in the chanting of Biblical Hebrew.
In addition, we see the newer trope of "Zionism as racism" in the statement about "Israeli Apartheid." The deployment of these tropes effectively demonizes Israel and helps justify the call to boycott an Israeli-owned business.
The image of the mulatta in the cottage is presented, and then twice revised in Clotel; the basic trope occurs with the quadroon protagonist, Clotel, for whom the work is named.