Metaphrase is a term referring to literal translation, i.e., "word by word and line by line"[1] translation.
[3] Metaphrase is one of the three ways of transferring, along with paraphrase and imitation,[4] according to John Dryden.
Dryden considers paraphrase preferable to metaphrase (as literal translation) and imitation.
The term metaphrase was first used by Philo Judaeus (20 BCE) in De vita Mosis.
[4] Quintilian draws a distinction between metaphrase and paraphrase in the pedagogical practice of imitation and reworking of classical texts; he points out that metaphrase changes a word, and paraphrase, a phrase: a distinction that is also followed by Renaissance scholars.