Trope

A “trope” (TROPE) – from the Greek for “turn” – is a word or phrase used in a way that changes its meaning from literal to figurative. (Metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech are tropes.)

Example (as used by Daniel Patterson in The New York Times): “Few things capture summer’s carefree spirit like a perfect piece of fruit. Eating berries off the vine, still warm from the sun, is a pastoral trope.”