meronym

[ mer-uh-nim ]

noun

1. a term that specifies a part of something but that refers to the whole of the thing, as, for example, the word hands in “needing more hands to finish the project,” where hands refers to people, and the term set of wheels in “driving a new set of wheels,” where set of wheels refers to an automobile.

meronym

/ ˈmɛrəʊˌnɪm /

noun

1. a part of something used to refer to the whole, such as faces meaning people , as in they've seen a lot of faces come and go

Word History and Origins

Origin of meronym¹

First recorded in 1965–70 (in sense “midpoint between two extremes”); blend of mero- ( def ) + -onym ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of meronym¹

from Greek meros part + onuma name