metaphrase
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to translate, especially literally.
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to change the phrasing or literary form of.
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012verb
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to alter or manipulate the wording of
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to translate literally
Etymology
Origin of metaphrase
First recorded in 1600–10, metaphrase is from the Greek word metáphrasis a paraphrasing, change of phrasing. See meta-, phrase
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hear Dryden prosing away upon paraphrase, and metaphrase, and imitation, in his very best style.
From Project Gutenberg
"Translation, therefore," says Dryden, "is not so loose as paraphrase, nor so close as metaphrase."
From Project Gutenberg
His general theory may be stated as an aim at something between the literalness of metaphrase and the looseness of paraphase.
From Project Gutenberg
But most men, little recking what a small portion of the original they were reading, satisfied themselves with the Anglo French epitome and metaphrase.
From Project Gutenberg
The way I have taken is not so strait as metaphrase, nor so loose as paraphrase; some things, too, I have omitted, and sometimes have added of my own.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
