enallage

• Terme rhétorique ou grammatical désignant la substitution d'une partie du discours, d'un genre, d'un nombre ou d'un temps par un autre, par exemple l'emploi du « nous » de majesté à la place de « je ».

A rhetorical or grammatical term referring to the substitution of one part of speech, gender, number, or tense for another, such as using the editorial 'we' in place of 'I'.

1. Grammatical substitutionC2formal

   A rhetorical device where one grammatical form (such as tense, case, gender, number, or part of speech) is substituted for another for stylistic effect.

   Énallage (figure de style)

   • The use of the editorial 'we' instead of 'I' is a classic example of enallage.
   • In the sentence 'We are not amused,' the queen uses enallage by substituting the plural pronoun for the singular.
   • The poet employed enallage by using a past tense verb to describe a future event, creating a sense of inevitability.