Periphrasis
Figures of speechReplacing a word with an expression that describes it: the City of Light for Paris, the king of beasts for the lion.
Example
"The Eternal City" (Rome); "man's best friend" (the dog).
Periphrasis says in several words what one would name: "the City of Light" (Paris), "the seventh art" (cinema), "the woman who raised him" (his grandmother). The detour is never free: it selects one trait of the thing and imposes it as an angle of view.
In narrative it varies repetitions (avoiding a name's recurrence), delays a reveal (designating a character without naming them), or loads the designation with affect — "the man from the train" and "her future husband" can name the same person at two points of the story. A worn periphrasis becomes cliché; a chosen one becomes point of view.
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