periphrasis

Meanings

1. The use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one with a similar meaning, for example "I am going to" instead of "I will".
2. Expressing a grammatical meaning (such as a tense) using a syntactic construction rather than morphological marking.
3. The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a type of circumlocution).
4. The use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).