| figure of speech |
| Definition: Any word or phrase that deviates from the normal literal use of words in order to add beauty, variety, or emphasis to a statement. Note: The common techniques for doing this have been given names, such as hyperbole, hysteron proteron, merism, and metaphor. |
| Example:
He has tons of money
(i.e., he has lots of money, but it probably doesn't weigh a ton). |
| Etymology: The term was coined as a translation of the Latin figura orationis, which itself is a translation of the Greek term skhema tes lexeos. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first citation is from 1669: "Words are sometimes encreast or diminisht by a Letter or Syllable … which are call'd Figures of Speech." (Milton, Accedence Wks., 1851 VI. 467) ) |