METONYMY

metonymy

(noun) substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in ‘they counted heads’)

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

metonymy (countable and uncountable, plural metonymies)

(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.

Coordinate term: metaphor

Hypernyms: trope, figure of speech

Hyponyms: synecdoche, synecdochy

(countable) A metonym.

Source: Wiktionary


Me*ton"y*my, n. Etym: [L. metonymia, Gr. métonymie. See Name.] (Rhet.)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. When coffee berries turn from green to bright red – indicating ripeness – they are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor.

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