metonymy

[ mi-ton-uh-mee ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

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.”

metonymy

/ ˌmɛtəˈnɪmɪkəl; 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

Derived Forms

• ˌmetoˈnymically, adverb
• metonymical, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of metonymy¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of metonymy¹

C16: from Late Latin from Greek: a changing of name, from meta- (indicating change) + onoma name

Example Sentences

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

Conversation with him quickly soars into rare air: subjectivity and objectivity, metonymy and metaphor.

From New York Times

It is a metonymy that suggests that the irreducible lives and fates of the dispossessed are not this show’s concern, and certainly haven’t been “recovered” as we were promised at the outset.

From New York Times

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

And I argue that even though he’s world-famous and globally acclaimed, he’s really underrated for the kind of sophisticated nuanced deployment of homophones, metonymy, simile, metaphor, braggadocio, allusion.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• analogy
• image
• symbol