metaphrast

[ met-uh-frast ]

noun

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

metaphrast

/ ˈmɛtəˌfræst /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˌmetaˈphrastic, adjective
• ˌmetaˈphrastically, adverb

Other Words From

• meta·phrastic meta·phrasti·cal adjective
• meta·phrasti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphrast¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphrast¹

C17: from Medieval Greek metaphrastēs translator

Example Sentences

The remaining Martyrologies, those of the Metaphrast, of the Bollandists, and of the Armenian version, have no independent value, being compacted from these two.

From Project Gutenberg

The story was first popular in the Greek Church, and was embodied in the lives of the saints, as recooked by Simeon the Metaphrast, an author whose period is disputed, but was in any case not later than 1150.

From Project Gutenberg

But a contrary effect must have been produced by a new edition of the lives of the saints, which the great logothete, or chancellor of the empire, was directed to prepare; and the dark fund of superstition was enriched by the fabulous and florid legends of Simon the Metaphrast.

From Project Gutenberg