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Synecdoche (pronounced "si-NEK-duh-kee", IPA: /sɪˈnɛkdəˌki/; from Greek synekdoche (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech 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, or
• a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Use 3 Examples 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Etymology

Look up synecdoche in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The word "synecdoche" is derived from the Greek συνεκδοχή, from the prepositions συν- + εκ- and the verb -δέχομαι (accept), originally meaning accepting a part as responsible for the whole, or vice versa.

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 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 p. 189 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Examples

• Examples where a part of something is used to refer to the whole:
  • "Synecdoche, New York" is a play about the real lives of its actors; the play's title is representative of their actual lives. In the 2008 film of the same title, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, the play blurs into and replaces the actors' lives.
  • "50 head of cattle" refers to 50 complete cows (who might be herded by a ranch "hand".)
  • "His parents bought him a new set of wheels [car]."
  • "The price of the meal is set at twenty pounds per head."
  • Similarly, "mouths to feed" for hungry people, "white hair" for an elderly person, "the press" for news media.
  • For nations, "England", "Britain" or "Great Britain" (that is, the largest of the British Isles) is sometimes incorrectly used to mean the entire United Kingdom, as is "Holland" for the Netherlands or as "Russia" (formerly) was for the Soviet Union. From 1992 to 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was commonly called "Serbia" due to the political and cultural dominance of Serbia within the state.
  • The White House is commonly used to represent the federal government of the United States.
  • A common synecdoche concerns the Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster in London, which is known to much of the world as "Big Ben". Properly speaking, Big Ben is the name of the largest of the five bells inside, while the tower is simply called the Clock Tower.
  • "roof" for a house,
• Examples where the whole of something is used to refer to a part of it:
  • "Use your head [brain] to figure it out."
  • "body" for the trunk of the body
  • "Europe" for the European Union^[1]
• Mixed example with both the whole referring to a part and the part referring to the whole:
  • "Albany [the capital of New York State] just passed a law addressing this problem." The city of Albany means only state government located there, not the whole city; but these mean that New York state just passed that law, not just that city.
  • "West Point", for the United States Military Academy, occupying the entirety of the CDP West Point, New York
• Examples where a species (specific kind) is used to refer to its genus (more general kind):
  • "The cutthroats [assassins] there will as soon shoot a man as look at him."
  • "Could you pass me a Kleenex [facial tissue]?"
  • "I've just finished with the hoover [vacuum cleaner]."
  • "coke" for pop/soda
  • "castle" for home
  • "meat" or "bread" for food
  • "Judas" for traitor.
  • "Quisling" for traitor.
• Examples where the material from which an object is (or was) made is used to refer to the object itself:
  • "Those are some nice threads [clothes]."
  • "willow" for cricket bat,
  • "copper" for penny,
  • "paper" for money,
  • "boards" for stage,
  • "ivories" for piano keys,
  • "plastic" for credit card,
  • "the hardwood" for a gym floor,
  • "pigskin" for an American or Canadian football, from the early use of a pig's bladder to cover those balls
  • "steel" for a sword,
  • "iron" for weightlifting barbells,
  • "lead" for a bullet,
  • "rubber" for vehicle tires.
  • "cloth" for a member of the clergy
  • "suit" for a businessperson
  • "can" for a canned beverage

[edit] See also

• Conceptual metaphor
• Figure of speech
• Metonymy
• Hendiadys

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Look up synecdoche in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Synecdoche from Silva Rhetoricæ: The Forest of Rhetoric