trope

  1. Noun.  A figure of speech, such as a metaphor, in which a word or phrase is used other than in a literal manner.
  2. Noun.  (music) A short cadence at the end of the melody in some early music.
  3. Noun.  (music) A phrase or verse added to the mass when sung by a choir.
  4. Noun.  (Judaism) A cantillation.
  5. Noun.  (literature) Something recurring across a genre or type of literature, such as the ‘mad scientist’ of horror or ‘once upon a time’ as an introduction to fairytales. Similar to an archetype (or a cliché, but not necessarily pejorative).
  6. Verb.  To use, or embellish something with a trope.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.