Trope
/troʊp/noun
A figurative or recurring theme, image, or device in language, art, or storytelling.
Did you know?Trope comes from Greek tropḗ, “a turn,” and in classical rhetoric it meant a turn of phrase; the same root also gave English some of its most mind-bending words about turning and change.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*trep-
“to turn, twist”
Ancient Greek
Greek
tropḗ
“a turn, turn of speech”
Late Latin
Latin
tropos
“a figure of speech, rhetorical turn”
Old French
Old French
trop
“a rhetorical figure; turn of phrase”
Middle English
English
trope
“a figure of speech, especially a metaphor or other figurative use”
Modern English
English
trope
“a recurring theme, device, or convention in art, media, or writing”
Explore more surprising origins