Trope

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊp
• RP enPR: trōp, IPA: /ˈtɹəʊp/

Origin

From Latin tropus, from Ancient Greek τρόπος (tropos, "a turn, way, manner, style, a trope or figure of speech, a mode in music, a mode or mood in logic").

Noun

1. (literature) Something recurring across a genre or type of literature, such as the ‘mad scientist’ of horror movies or ‘once upon a time’ as an introduction to fairy tales. Similar to archetype and cliché but not necessarily pejorative.
2. A figure of speech in which words or phrases are used with a nonliteral or figurative meaning, such as a metaphor.
3. (music) A short cadence at the end of the melody in some early music.
4. (music) A phrase or verse added to the mass when sung by a choir.
5. (music) A pair of complementary hexachords in twelve-tone technique.
6. (Judaism) A cantillation.

Derived terms

• troper
• tropist
• tropical
• tropology

Full definition of trope

Verb

1. To use, or embellish something with a trope.
2. (often literature) To turn into, coin or create a new trope.
3. (often literature) To analyze a work in terms of its literary tropes.
4. (intransitive) To think or write in terms of tropes.

Synonyms

• tropify

Related terms

• tropable

Anagrams

• repot
• tepor
• toper