trope

[ trohp ]
See synonyms for trope on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Rhetoric.

    • any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense.

    • an instance of this.: Compare figure of speech.

  2. a phrase, sentence, or verse formerly interpolated in a liturgical text to amplify or embellish.

    • a recurring theme or motif, as in literature or art:the trope of motherhood;the heroic trope.

    • a convention or device that establishes a predictable or stereotypical representation of a character, setting, or scenario in a creative work:From her introduction in the movie, the character is nothing but a Damsel in Distress trope.The author relies on our knowledge of the Haunted House trope to set the scene.

  1. (in the philosophy of Santayana) the principle of organization according to which matter moves to form an object during the various stages of its existence.

Origin of trope

1
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin tropus “figure in rhetoric, manner of singing” from Greek trópos “turn, manner, style, figure of speech,” akin to trépein “to turn, direct, show”

Other definitions for -trope (2 of 2)

-trope

  1. 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.

Origin of -trope

2
<Greek -tropos;see trope, tropo-

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use trope in a sentence

  • In our day we consider as figures of speech only the classical tropes, and indeed Aristotle pays little attention to the others.

  • Quintilian classifies as tropes words or phrases converted from their proper signification to another.

  • Tropes and Fictions are raised, as it were, upon the Foundation of right Reason.

    Lectures on Poetry | Joseph Trapp
  • The common sense of our tropes, rodomontades, and allegories is this!

    Husks | Marion Harland
  • It is nothing more than a highly organized dictionary of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance schemes and tropes.

British Dictionary definitions for trope (1 of 2)

trope

/ (trəʊp) /


noun
  1. rhetoric a word or expression used in a figurative sense

  2. an interpolation of words or music into the plainsong settings of the Roman Catholic liturgy

Origin of trope

1
C16: from Latin tropus figurative use of a word, from Greek tropos style, turn; related to trepein to turn

British Dictionary definitions for -trope (2 of 2)

-trope

n combining form
  1. indicating a turning towards, development in the direction of, or affinity to: heliotrope

Origin of -trope

2
from Greek tropos a turn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012