hypallage

[ hi-pal-uh-jee, hahy- ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

1. the reversal of the expected syntactic relation between two words, as in “her beauty's face” for “her face's beauty.”

hypallage

/ haɪˈpæləˌdʒiː /

noun

1. rhetoric a figure of speech in which the natural relations of two words in a statement are interchanged, as in the fire spread the wind

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypallage¹

1580–90; < Latin < Greek hypallagḗ interchange, equivalent to hyp- hyp- + allagḗ change ( all- all- + ag- (stem of ágein to lead; -agogue ) + -ē noun suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypallage¹

C16: via Late Latin from Greek hupallagē interchange, from hypo- + allassein to exchange

Example Sentences

The usual explanation, which makes insertas an epithet transferred by a sort of hypallage from Luna to fenestras, is extremely violent, and makes the word little more than a repetition of se fundebat.

From Project Gutenberg

Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the hypallage in this passage.

From Project Gutenberg

The epithet is, by hypallage, transferred from the person to the dew or cold sweat which ‘dips’ or moistens his body.

From Project Gutenberg

The rhetoricians call this "hypallage," because one word as it were is substituted for another.

From Project Gutenberg