metaphrast

[met-uh-frast]

noun

a person who translates or changes a literary work from one form to another, as prose into verse.

Origin of metaphrast

1600–10; Medieval Greek metaphrástēs one who translates, equivalent to *metaphrad-, base of metaphrázein to translate (see meta-, phrase) + -tēs agent suffix

Related formsmet·a·phras·tic, met·a·phras·ti·cal, adjectivemet·a·phras·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for metaphrast

metaphrast

noun

a person who metaphrases, esp one who changes the form of a text, as by rendering verse into prose

Derived Formsmetaphrastic or metaphrastical, adjectivemetaphrastically, adverb

Word Origin for metaphrast

C17: from Medieval Greek metaphrastēs translator

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