ANTONOMASIA

views updated Jun 11 2018

ANTONOMASIA [Stress: ‘an-to-no-MAY-zy-a’].
1. In RHETORIC, the use of an EPITHET to acknowledge a quality in one person or place by using the name of another person or place already known for that quality: Henry is the local Casanova; Cambridge is England's Silicon Valley.

2. The use of an epithet instead of the name of a person or thing: the Swan of Avon William Shakespeare.

antonomasia

views updated Jun 27 2018

an·to·no·ma·sia / anˌtänəˈmāzh(ē)ə/ • n. Rhetoric the substitution of an epithet or title for a proper name (e.g., the Bard for Shakespeare). ∎  the use of a proper name to express a general idea (e.g., a Scrooge for a miser).