Institutio Oratoria

Thus, by the figure known as abuse, [*]( or catachresis. See viii. ii. 5 and vi. 34. ) we call all those who commit a murder with any weapon whatsoever sicarii (poniarders). In other cases we express our meaning periphrastically, as, for instance, when Virgil [*](Ecl. i. 81. ) describes cheese as

1. Abundance of pressed milk.

On the other hand, in a number of instances we employ figures [*](See i. viii. 16; ix. i. 11.) and substitute one expression for another. Instead of

I know,

we say

I am not ignorant,

or

the fact does not escape me,

or

I have not forgotten,

or

who does not know?

or

it can be doubted by none.

But we may also borrow from a word of cognate meaning. For

I understand,

or

I feel

or

I see

are often equivalent to

I know.

Reading will provide us with a rich store of expressions such as these, and will enable us not merely to use them when they occur to us, but also in the appropriate manner. For they are not always interchangeable: