synecdoche

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“
Tmesis splits a word in two and tucks another in between; synecdoche turns a sail into a ship, a foot into a foot soldier, a stomach into the fleshly appetites; paradox contradicts itself without lying; ellipsis tells without saying.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).

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Examples

  • I know a great deal of it by heart, for I loved it long before I knew a metaphor from a synecdoche. —  The Story of My Life
  • Tmesis splits a word in two and tucks another in between; synecdoche turns a sail into a ship, a foot into a foot soldier, a stomach into the fleshly appetites; paradox contradicts itself without lying; ellipsis tells without saying. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XI No 4
  • In the figure we call synecdoche, a part of the whole becomes a name for the whole, or vice versa as in "sixty head of cattle" or "fifty sails." —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 3
  • Here we have a synecdoche, which is the result of a function shift, which in turn is a clipping of picture tube. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 3
  • But asyndeton is and so are all my old friends -- hysteron proteron, synecdoche, malapropism, and paranomasia, which is listed under puns.) —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol V No 4
 

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Synecdoche has been looked up 2988 times, favorited 17 times, listed 171 times, and commented on 6 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English synodoches, from Medieval Latin synodoche, alteration of Latin synecdochē, from Greek sunekdokhē, from sunekdekhesthai, to take on a share of : sun-, syn- + ekdekhesthai, to understand (ek-, out of; see eghs in Indo-European roots + dekhesthai, to take; see dek- in Indo-European roots).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French synecdoche, synecdoque = Spanish sinécdoque, sinédoque = Portuguese synecdoche = Italian sinéddoche, from Latin synecdoche, from Greek συνεκδοχή, an understanding one with another, the putting of the whole for a part, etc., from συνεκδέχεσ, σ1θαι, join in receiving, from σύν, together, + ἐκδέχεσθαι, take from, accept, receive, from ἐκ, out, + δέχεσθαι take, accept.
 

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/sɪˈnɛkdəki/
by American Heritage
by Parker Smith

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