Home › Glossary › Letter M

Metaphoric compound

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A lexical blend where two words merge to form a metaphorical unit (e.g., “whale-road” for sea)

Detailed Definition
Metaphoric compound is a fused linguistic unit where two nouns combine to create a new, figurative meaning—such as “heart-storm” or “time-thief”—compressing complex ideas into vivid, economical imagery; common in Old English and modernist poetry, it generates semantic density by forcing unexpected conceptual collisions that spark fresh perception.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Mind-forg’d manacles” in Blake’s “London”; “Heart-shape” in Marvell’s “The Definition of Love”; “Soul-shiver” in Plath’s “Ariel”; “Time’s wingèd chariot” in Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”
Additional Notes
Metaphoric compounds join words to create new images (e.g., “mind-forg’d manacles”); central to poetic compression; related to kenning and hyphenated image; ensure the fusion yields insight, not confusion
Also Known As
Compound metaphor fused trope blended symbol conjoined image Kenning compound
Skip to main content