metonymy
UK /mɪˈtɒnəmi/ · US /mɪˈtɑnəmi/ noun
Forms metonymies
- noun (rhetoric) The use of a single characteristic or part of an object, concept or phenomenon to identify the entire object, concept, phenomenon or a related object.
- noun (countable) A metonym.
Etymology
From Late Latin metonymia, from Ancient Greek μετωνυμίᾱ (metōnumíā, “change of name”), from μετά (metá, “other”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A trope in which one word is put for another that suggests it; as, we say, a man keeps a good table instead of good provisions; we read Virgil, that is, his poems; a man has a warm heart, that is, warm affections.
Etymology [L. metonymia, Gr. métonymie. See Name.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “metonymy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details