Hypocatastasis

Hypocatastasis is a

figure of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...

that declares or implies a resemblance, representation or comparison. It differs from a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

, because in a metaphor the two nouns are both named and given; while, in hypocatastasis, only one is named and the other is implied, or as it were, is put down underneath out of sight. Hence hypocatastasis is an implied resemblance or representation: that is an implied simile or metaphor. A hypocatastasis has more force than a metaphor or simile, and expresses as it were a superlative degree of resemblance. Attribution for the creation of the term is given derisively to a Mr. Lord by G. Bush in 1850. The latter accuses the former of inventing this category of Biblical comparisons which do not seem to fit into the standard categories of metaphor or

simile A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...

. Since then the term has mostly been confined to analysis of Biblical rhetoric, and it has never migrated to general public usage. It does not appear in the 2009 version of the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

. Bush says of Lord's term:

The Hypocatastasis is the substitution, without a formal notice, of agents and objects of one sphere, or of one species, in the place of the persons or objects of another, as in Is. iii. 15, "What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the poor?" These acts, says Mr. L., are not literally impracticable, and therefore are not used metaphorically. They are violent and extraordinary, and are employed by ''substitution'', to signify analogous acts of extreme oppression and tyranny. talics in original/blockquote> Bullinger gives the following example: one may say to another, “You are ''like'' a beast.” This would be simile, tamely stating a fact. If, however, he said, “You ''are'' a beast” that would be metaphor. But, if he said simply, “Beast!” that would be hypocatastasis, for the other part of the simile or metaphor (“you”), would be implied and not stated. This figure, therefore, is calculated to arouse the mind and attract and excite the attention to the greatest extent.

See also
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Analogy Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ( ...
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Description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...
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Metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
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Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Notes
Rhetorical techniques Figures of speech Style (fiction) Narrative techniques Word play {{rhetoric-stub