metonymy

American  

[mi-ton-uh-mee] / mɪˈtɒn ə mi /

noun

Rhetoric.

• metonymies
  plural

1. a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, as “scepter” for “sovereignty,” or “the bottle” for “strong drink,” or “count heads (or noses)” for “count people.”

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metonymy British  

/ mɪˈtɒnɪmɪ /

noun

1. the substitution of a word referring to an attribute for the thing that is meant, as for example the use of the crown to refer to a monarch Compare synecdoche

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• metonymical
  adjective
• metonymically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• metonymies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of metonymy

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin metōnymia, from Greek metōnymía “change of name”; see origin at met-, -onym, -y ³

Compare meaning

How does metonymy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• metonymy vs. synecdoche

Explanation

Metonymy means referring to something by one of its attributes or by using a related word. If a reporter notes that "the White House released a statement," that's metonymy: "the White House" means the President or the President's administration. Metonymy comes from the Greek word metonymia, meaning “a change of name.” You've probably heard examples of metonymy, even if you didn't know the technical name for this figure of speech. Describing a monarch as "the Crown" or businesspeople as "suits" is metonymy. The expression "the pen is mightier than the sword" uses metonymy twice: "the pen" refers to writing, while "the sword" refers to war. Don't confuse metonymy with synecdoche, a related figure of speech in which a part is used to refer to the whole.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

metonymy metonymies

The closing credits begin unspooling over an image of a little girl’s shoes catching fire and burning up, a grimly poetic metonymy of the Gallardos’ tragic back story.

From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2023

The weapon’s power — to destroy all computers on board the American ships, rendering them utterly isolated — works as a kind of metonymy for the book’s argument about America’s waning global influence.

From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2021

But there are risks in this kind of metonymy — what writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has called “the danger of a single story.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2018

Every associate is just a metonymy for his terrificness.

From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2016

The synecdoche, in which a part is put for the whole, as the sword for war, is in its nature essentially a metonymy.

From Companion to the Bible by E. P. (Elijah Porter) Barrows

Rhetoricians give elaborate classifications of metonymies, but they are of little value to the scriptural student, since all are interpreted according to the few simple principles given in the preceding chapter.

From Companion to the Bible by E. P. (Elijah Porter) Barrows

For a time it seems not so important to classify the metonymies as to make peas or dandelion taste like coffee.

From The Story of a Life by J. Breckenridge (John Breckenridge) Ellis

Related Words

• analogy
• image
• symbol