Word.ws English Dictionary

metaphrase

metaphrase noun: a literal, word-for-word translation.

Noun

metaphrase (plural metaphrases)

  1. A literal, word-for-word translation.
  2. An answering phrase; repartee.
    • I'm somewhat dull still in the manly art
      Of phrase and metaphrase. Why, any man
      Can carve a score of white Loves out of snow,
      As Buonarroti down in Florence there,
      And set them on the wall in some safe shade […]1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Eighth Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC

Verb

metaphrase (third-person singular simple present metaphrases, present participle metaphrasing, simple past and past participle metaphrased)

  1. To make such a literal translation.

metaphrase meaning in Tamil

metaphrase in Tamil

சொல்லுக்குச்சொல் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு, வேறு சொற்களால் மாற்று

Forms of metaphrase

Noun
pluralmetaphrases
Verb
third-person singular presentmetaphrases
present participlemetaphrasing
past participlemetaphrased
pastmetaphrased

Origin of metaphrase

From Ancient Greek μεταφράζομαι (metaphrázomai, “consider after”). By surface analysis, meta- + phrase.

Questions about metaphrase

What does metaphrase mean?
Metaphrase means a literal, word-for-word translation.
What is metaphrase in Tamil?
Metaphrase in Tamil is சொல்லுக்குச்சொல் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு, வேறு சொற்களால் மாற்று. See Metaphrase meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is metaphrase?
Metaphrase can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of metaphrase?
The plural of metaphrase is metaphrases.

Words near metaphrase in the dictionary

  1. metaphotography
  2. metaphragma
  3. metaphragmal
  4. metaphragmata
  5. metaphrand
  6. metaphrase
  7. metaphrased
  8. metaphrases
  9. metaphrasing
  10. metaphrasis
  11. metaphrast

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: metaphrase (page history and authors); metaphrase (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “metaphrase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metaphrase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.