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- a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing (Pars pro toto), or
- a term denoting a thing (a “whole”) is used to refer to part of it (Totum pro parte), or
- a term denoting a specific class of thing is used to refer to a larger, more general class, or
- a term denoting a general class of thing is used to refer to a smaller, more specific class, or
- a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material.
 Similar figures of speech
Synecdoche is closely related to metonymy (the figure of speech in which a term denoting one thing is used to refer to a related thing); indeed, synecdoche is considered a subclass of metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as metaphor.
More rigorously, metonymy and synecdoche may be considered as sub-species of metaphor, intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution (as Quintilian does in Institutio oratoria Book VIII). In Lanham’s Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, the three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions, arguably in tune with a certain interpretation of their etymologies from Greek:
- metaphor: changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analogous to it; assertion of identity rather than, as with simile, likeness.
- metonymy: substitution of cause for effect, proper name for one of its qualities, etc.
- synecdoche: substitution of a part for whole, species for genus, etc.
The word “synecdoche” is derived from the Greek συνεκδοχή, from the prepositions συν- + εκ- and the verb δέχομαι (= “I accept”), originally meaning accepting a part as responsible for the whole, or vice versa.
The use of synecdoche is a common way to emphasize an important aspect of a fictional character; for example, a character might be consistently described by a single body part, such as the eyes, which come to represent the character. This is often used when the main character does not know or care about the names of the characters that he/she is referring to.
Also, sonnets and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a whole, coherent self. This practice is especially common in the Petrarchan sonnet, where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, from head to toe.
- Examples where a part of something is used to refer to the whole:
- “50 head of cattle” refers to 50 complete cattle (who might be herded by a ranch “hand“.)
- “His parents bought him a new set of wheels [car].”
- “All hands on deck.”
- “The price of the meal is set at twenty pounds per head.”
- Similarly, “mouths to feed” for hungry people, “white hair” for an elderly person, “the press” for news media.
- For nations, “England“, “Britain” or “Great Britain” (that is, the largest of the British Isles) is sometimes incorrectly used to mean the entire United Kingdom, as is “Holland” for the Netherlands or as “Russia” (formerly) was for the Soviet Union. From 1992 to 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was commonly called “Serbia” due to the political and cultural dominance of Serbia within the state.
- The White House is commonly used to represent the executive branch of the federal government of the United States.
- Whitehall is used to refer to the government of the United Kingdom
- “cloth” for a member of the clergy
- “suit” for a businessman
- A common synecdoche concerns the Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster in London, which is known to much of the world as “Big Ben”. Properly speaking, Big Ben is a nickname of the largest of the five bells inside, while the tower is simply called the Clock tower.
- Examples where the whole of something is used to refer to a part of it:
- Mixed example with both the whole referring to a part and the part referring to the whole:
- “Albany [the capital of New York State] just passed a law addressing this problem.” The city of Albany means only state government located there, not the whole city; but these mean that New York state just passed that law, not just that city.
- “West Point“, for the United States Military Academy, occupying the entirety of the CDP West Point, New York
- Examples where a species (specific kind) is used to refer to its genus (more general kind):
- “The cutthroats [assassins] there will as soon shoot a man as look at him.”
- “coke” for pop/soda
- “castle” for home
- “meat” or “bread” for food
- “Judas” for traitor.
- “Quisling” for traitor.
- This includes genericization of tradenames:
- “Could you pass me a Kleenex [facial tissue]?”
- “I’ve just finished with the hoover [vacuum cleaner].”
- “It came on over the tannoy [Public Address System].”
- “Can you xerox [photocopy] this for me?”
- Examples where the material from which an object is (or was) made is used to refer to the object itself:
- “Those are some nice threads [clothes].”
- “willow” for cricket bat,
- “copper” for penny,
- “boards” for stage,
- “ivories” for piano keys,
- “plastic” for credit card,
- “pigskin” for an American or Canadian football, from the early use of a pig’s bladder to cover those balls
- “iron” for weightlifting barbells,
- “lead” for a bullet,
- “rubber” for vehicle tires.
- Container for contents:
- “can” for a canned beverage
- “box” as in, “I ate a box of macaroni and cheese,” or, “We shot through a box of ammo.”
 See also
- Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 683. ISBN 0-674-36250-0.
- ^ Lanham, Richard A (1991). A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature, Second Edition. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: California University Press. pp. 189. ISBN 0-520-07669-9.
- ^ See, e.g., Merje Kuus, ‘Europe’s eastern expansion and the reinscription of otherness in East-Central Europe’ Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 28, No. 4, 472-489 (2004), József Böröcz, ‘Goodness Is Elsewhere: The Rule of European Difference’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 110-36, 2006, or Attila Melegh, On the East-West Slope: Globalization, nationalism, racism and discourses on Central and Eastern Europe, Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006.