hypallage

[ hi-pal-uh-jee, hahy- ]

/ hɪˈpæl ə dʒi, haɪ- /

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noun Rhetoric.

the reversal of the expected syntactic relation between two words, as in “her beauty's face” for “her face's beauty.”

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of hypallage

1580–90; <Latin <Greek hypallagḗ interchange, equivalent to hyp-hyp- + allagḗ change (all-all- + ag- (stem of ágein to lead; see -agogue) + -ē noun suffix)

Words nearby hypallage

hypacusis, hypaesthesia, hypaethral, hypalbuminemia, hypalgesia, hypallage, hypamnios, hypanakinesis, hypanthium, hypaspist, Hypatia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use hypallage in a sentence

The epithet is, by hypallage, transferred from the person to the dew or cold sweat which ‘dips’ or moistens his body.
Milton's Comus|John Milton
The joining it with 'beach' seems an instance of the figure called Hypallage.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley
Sterili is transferred by hypallage from litus; siccum serves no purpose beyond providing a balancing epithet.
The Last Poems of Ovid|Ovid

British Dictionary definitions for hypallage

hypallage

/ (haɪˈpæləˌdʒiː) /

noun

rhetoric a figure of speech in which the natural relations of two words in a statement are interchanged, as in the fire spread the wind

Word Origin for hypallage

C16: via Late Latin from Greek hupallagē interchange, from hypo- + allassein to exchange

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