tropology

noun

tro·​pol·​o·​gy

trōˈpäləjē

plural -es

1

a

: a figurative mode of speech or writing

b

: a mode of biblical interpretation stressing a moral meaning inhering in the metaphorical character of language

2

: a treatise on or compilation of tropes

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin tropologia, from Late Greek, from tropos trope (from Greek, turn, manner, style) + Greek -logia -logy

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

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