enallage

[ en-al-uh-jee ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

1. the use of one grammatical form in place of another, as the plural for the singular in the editorial use of we.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enallage¹

1575–85; < Late Latin < Greek enallagḗ an interchange, derivative from base of enalláttein to give in exchange; en- ², agio

Example Sentences

One favorite device, for instance, is called “enallage,” in which an adjective is pointedly displaced from the noun it should, logically, modify.

From The New Yorker

Perhaps Mr. Held sought to employ poetical enallage, but even so, the adjective does not correspond with "slowly"; besides, the use of enallage in prose is at best highly questionable.

From Project Gutenberg

Le Moyne thinks that we need have no difficulty in assuming such an enallage.

From Project Gutenberg

Boccaccio constantly uses this irregular form of enallage, especially in dialogue.

From Project Gutenberg

And when all men shall have adopted this enallage, the fault indeed will be banished, or metamorphosed, but with it will go an other sixth part of every English conjugation.

From Project Gutenberg