From Greek 'hypér' (over) + 'bállein' (to throw) — literally 'an overthrow' of truth, exaggeration by design.
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally; a figure of speech involving extreme exaggeration.
From Latin 'hyperbole,' from Greek 'hyperbole' (excess, extravagance, a throwing beyond), composed of 'hyper' (over, beyond, above) and 'bole' (a throw), from 'ballein' (to throw). The PIE root of 'ballein' is *gwelH- meaning 'to throw, to reach, to pierce.' Greek 'ballein' generated an extraordinary range of compounds: 'emblem' (thrown in), 'problem' (thrown forward, a thing set before one), 'symbol' (thrown together), 'parable' (thrown alongside), 'metabolism,' and 'ballistic.' The prefix 'hyper' comes from PIE *uper (over,
The mathematical 'hyperbola' and the rhetorical 'hyperbole' are the same word — both mean 'a throwing beyond.' In geometry, a hyperbola is a curve that 'exceeds' or 'goes beyond' the base of a cone (it is one of the conic sections). In rhetoric, a hyperbole is a statement that 'goes beyond' the truth. Apollonius of Perga named the curve around 200 BCE.
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