synecdoche

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Synecdoche (pronounced /sɪˈnɛkdəki/ si-NEK-də-kee; from Greek synekdoche (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech^[1] in which:

• 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 (Bindo pro parte), 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 sometimes 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,^[2] 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.

Etymology

The word "synecdoche" is derived from the Greek word 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.

Use

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 refers to the whole:
  • "White hair" for an elderly person
  • "Fingers" or "Legs" as a nickname
  • "A pair of hands" referring to a worker
  • "Old Blue Eyes" to refer to Frank Sinatra

• Where a whole thing is used to refer to a part of it:
  • "The city" passing a law, meaning that the local government has passed a law
  • A "country being at war", when only its representative army is fighting, and the landmass itself is obviously not at war

• A general class name used to denote a specific member of that or an associated class
  • "Bug" for any kind of insect or spider
  • "Truck" for any four-wheel drive vehicle (as well as long-haul trailers etc.)

• A specific class name used to refer to a general set of associated things
  • "Range Rover" for all four-wheel drive vehicle
  • "Thermos" for any kind of vacuum flask for holding a hot drink
  • "John Hancock" for the signature of any person

• Using the material a thing is made of to refer to that thing:
  • "Willow" for cricket bat,
  • "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 a clothes iron
  • "Rubber" for a condom

See also

• Conceptual metaphor
• Figure of speech
• Hendiadys
• Holonymy
• Hyponymy
• Meronymy
• Synecdemus

References

External links

• Synecdoche from Silva Rhetoricæ: The Forest of Rhetoric