synecdoche

American  

[si-nek-duh-kee] / sɪˈnɛk də ki /

noun

Rhetoric.

• synecdoches
  plural

1. a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships or a Croesus for a rich man.

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synecdoche British  

/ sɪnˈɛkdəkɪ /

noun

1. a figure of speech in which a part is substituted for a whole or a whole for a part, as in 50 head of cattle for 50 cows, or the army for a soldier

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• synecdochic
  adjective
• synecdochical
  adjective
• synecdochically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• synecdoches
  plural

Etymology

Origin of synecdoche

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin < Greek synekdochḗ, equivalent to syn- syn- + ekdochḗ act of receiving from another, equivalent to ek- ec- + -dochē, noun derivative of déchesthai to receive

Compare meaning

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

• metonymy vs. synecdoche

Explanation

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which you use a part of something to stand for the whole thing. If your parents buy you a car and you say that you just got a new set of wheels, you're using synecdoche — you're using the wheels, which are part of a car, to refer to the whole car. To correctly pronounce synecdoche, say "sih-NECK-duh-key." A synecdoche is a part that represents the whole. A photograph of a car that is completely covered in snow is a synecdoche for the burden everyone faces following a big winter storm. Synecdoche is a great literary device, especially for poets who strive to express a great deal in a single image.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

synecdoche synecdoches

But it lured two million fair visitors, and, as we see, inspired children’s toys and books, before becoming a synecdoche for Paris itself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026

In Darlington’s Devon neighborhood, the synecdoche for global habitat destruction is the arrival of a sign in a soon-to-be-former farm field: “Site Acquired for Development.”

From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2023

Baseball is practically a synecdoche for summer—the season of shared, relaxing stillness in the sun.

From Slate ● May 22, 2020

The home, a nation unto itself, falls easily into the pitfalls of synecdoche.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2020

But probably the ministers thought it to be another case of synecdoche.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863 by Various

Their fame has not eclipsed other injustices in Russia but highlighted them, in the tradition of opposition movements strategically promoting charismatic individuals, from Nelson Mandela to Ai Wei Wei, as synecdoches for an entire cause.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 20, 2012