Editing Synecdoche

{{Short description|Figure of speech}}
{{About|the linguistic term|other uses|Synecdoche (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
[[File:Bundeswehr-Kampfstiefel Modell 2007 DMS - 2.jpg|thumb|A common example of synecdoche: using the term ''boots'' to mean "[[soldier]]s", as in the phrase "boots on the ground".]]
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'''Synecdoche''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|n|ɛ|k|d|ə|k|i}} {{respell|sin|EK|də|kee}})<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Wells|first=John C. |author-link=John C. Wells |year=2008 |title=synecdoche |encyclopedia=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Longman]] |isbn=9781405881180}})</ref> is a type of [[metonymy]]; it is a [[figure of speech]] that uses a term for a part of something to refer to the whole (''[[pars pro toto]]''), or vice versa (''[[totum pro parte]]'').<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/synec.html |title=synecdoche |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |year=1998 |via=[[University of Pennsylvania]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=N. R.|last=Clifton |title=The Figure on Film |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ic9GefOCyFcC&pg=PA173 |year=1983 |publisher=[[University of Delaware Press]] |isbn=978-0-87413-189-5 |page=173 |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=George |last=Klawitter |url=http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/poetics/synecdoche.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013014114/http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/poetics/synecdoche.html |archive-date=2008-10-13 |title=Synecdoche |work=[[St. Edward's University]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|synecdoche |access-date=2019-01-02}}</ref> The term is derived {{etymology|grc|{{wikt-lang|grc|συνεκδοχή}} ({{grc-transl|συνεκδοχή}})|simultaneous understanding}}.{{efn|From {{wikt-lang|grc|ἐκδέχομαι}} ({{grc-transl|ἐκδέχομαι}}) 'to take or receive from another' – simplex {{wikt-lang|grc|δέχομαι}} ({{grc-transl|δέχομαι}}) 'to receive'.<ref>"{{lang|grc|συνεκ-δοχή}}, {{lang|grc|ἡ}}, '''A.''' ''understanding one thing with another'': hence in Rhet., ''synecdoche'', an indirect mode of expression, ''when the whole is put for a part [[Institutio Oratoria|Quint.Inst.]] 8.6.19, [[Aristides Quintilianus|Aristid.Quint.]] 2.9, [[Pseudo-Plutarch|Ps.-Plu.Vit.Hom.]] 22.''" Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. ''[[A Greek-English Lexicon]]''. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1940.</ref> In simpler words, the term comes from Greek ''{{lang|grc-Latn|Syn}}'', meaning "with" or "along with" (as in synonym) and ''{{lang|grc-Latn|ekdoche}}'', meaning sense or interpretation; thus literally, "interpret along with"}} Common English synecdoches include ''suits'' for ''businessmen'', ''wheels'' for ''automobile'', and ''boots'' for ''soldiers''.

==Definition==
{{confusing|section|date=June 2020}}
Synecdoche is a [[rhetorical]] [[Trope (literature)|trope]] and a kind of [[metonymy]]—a figure of speech using a term to denote one thing to refer to a related thing.<ref name="seu">[http://mcl.as.uky.edu/glossary-rhetorical-terms#42 Glossary of Rhetorical Terms], University of Kentucky</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jakobson|first=Roman & Morris Halle|title=Fundamentals of Language|year=1956|publisher=Mouton|location=The Hague|isbn=978-1178718140|page=95}}</ref>

Synecdoche (and thus metonymy) is distinct from [[metaphor]],<ref name="uwg">[http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language1.htm Figurative Language- language using figures of speech], University of West Georgia</ref> although in the past, it was considered a sub-species of metaphor, intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution (as [[Quintilian]] does in {{lang|la|Institutio oratoria}} Book VIII). In Lanham's ''Handlist of Rhetorical Terms'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Lanham|first=Richard A|year=1991|title=A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature, Second Edition|publisher=California University Press|location=Berkeley/Los Angeles/London|isbn=978-0-520-07669-3|page=189}}</ref> the three terms possess somewhat restrictive definitions in tune with their etymologies from Greek:
* ''[[Metaphor]]'': changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analogous to it; assertion of identity (A is B)—rather than likeness as with [[simile]] (A is like B); 
* ''[[Metonymy]]'': substituting an attribute of or object associated with something for the thing itself (e.g., substituting "the crown" for "the monarch" is not a synecdoche, since "the crown" is not strictly part of "the monarch").

==Classification==
Synecdoche is often used as a type of [[personification]] by attaching a human aspect to a nonhuman thing. It is used in reference to political relations, including "having a footing", to mean a country or organization is in a position to act, or "the wrong hands", to describe opposing groups, usually in the context of military power.<ref name="Political Metaphors" >{{cite web |title=President Obama's State of the Union Address |work=Metaphors in American Politics |url=http://www.politicalmetaphors.com/tag/synecdoche/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305010025/http://www.politicalmetaphors.com/tag/synecdoche/ |archive-date=5 March 2014 |access-date=2 January 2019}}</ref>

The two main types of synecdoche are ''microcosm'' and ''macrocosm''. A microcosm uses a part of something to refer to the entirety.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |last=Burke |first=Kenneth |title=Four Master Tropes |journal=[[The Kenyon Review]] |volume=3 |number=4 |publisher=[[Kenyon College]] |page=426 |jstor=4332286 |year=1941 }}</ref> An example of this is saying "I need a hand" with a project, but needing the entire person.<ref name="Enelow">{{cite web |last=Enelow |first=David |title=The Four Master Tropes |publisher=Head-Royce School |access-date=30 October 2014 |url=http://faculty.headroyce.org/~denelow/English%2011/rhetoric/Mastertropes.html |archive-date=8 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108181439/http://faculty.headroyce.org/~denelow/English%2011/rhetoric/Mastertropes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> A macrocosm is the opposite, using the name of the entire structure of something to refer to a small part.<ref name="jstor.org"/> An example of this is saying "the world" while referring to a ''certain country'' or part of the planet.<ref name="Enelow"/>
The figure of speech is divided into the image (what the speaker uses to refer to something) and the subject (what is referred to).

[[Sonnet]]s and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a coherent whole. This practice is especially common in the [[Petrarchan sonnet]], where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, head-to-toe.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Synecdoche is also popular in advertising. Since synecdoche uses a part to represent a whole, its use requires the audience to make associations and "fill in the gaps", engaging with the ad by thinking about the product.<ref name="Chandler" >{{cite book |last=Chandler |first=Daniel |title=Semiotics: the Basics |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2007 |pages=132–133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utd_AgAAQBAJ&q=Barthes%201974%2C%20162%3B&pg=PT126 |isbn=978-1-134-32476-7}}</ref> Moreover, catching the attention of an audience with advertising is often referred to by advertisers with the synecdoche "getting eyeballs".<ref name="Bureman" >{{cite web |title=Synecdoche: The Art of Getting Eyeballs |first=Liz |last=Bureman |url=http://thewritepractice.com/synecdoche/ |work=The Write Practice |access-date=2 January 2019|date=2013-09-24 }}</ref> Synecdoche is common in spoken English, especially in reference to sports. The names of cities are used as shorthand for their sports teams to describe events and their outcomes, such as "Denver won Monday's game," while accuracy would require specifying the sports team's name.<ref name="Bureman" />

[[Kenneth Burke]] (1945), an American&nbsp;[[Literary theory|literary theorist]], declared that in [[rhetoric]], the four master [[Trope (literature)|tropes]], or [[figures of speech]], are [[metaphor]], [[metonymy]], synecdoche, and [[irony]]. Burke's primary concern with these four master tropes is more than simply their figurative usage, but includes their role in the discovery and description of the truth.<ref name="Burke 1945 503">{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Kenneth|title=A Grammar of Motives|year=1945|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New York|page=503}}</ref> He described synecdoche as "part for the whole, whole for the part, container for the contained, sign for the thing signified, material for the thing made… cause for the effect, effect for the cause, genus for the species, species for the genus".<ref>{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Kenneth|title=A Grammar of Motives|year=1945|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New York|pages=507–508}}</ref> In addition, Burke suggests synecdoche patterns can include reversible pairs such as disease-cure.<ref name="Burke 1945 508">{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Kenneth|title=A Grammar of Motives|year=1945|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=New York|page=508}}</ref> Burke proclaimed the noblest synecdoche is found in the description of "[[microcosm and macrocosm]]" since microcosm is related to macrocosm as part to the whole, and either the whole can represent the part or the part can represent the whole".<ref name="Burke 1945 508" /> Burke compares synecdoche with the concept of "representation", especially in the political sense in which [[representative democracy|elected representatives]] stand in ''pars pro toto'' for their electorate.<ref name="Burke 1945 503" />

==Examples==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2022}}

===Part referring to whole ''(pars pro toto)''===
* Referring to a person according to a single characteristic: "gray beard" meaning an old man 
* Referring to a sword as a "blade"
* Describing a complete vehicle as "wheels", an entire airplane as a [[private jet]], or a manual transmission vehicle as a "stick"
* Referring to a country's currency by using the common name of a single coin within that currency, such as referring to the [[Canadian Dollar]] as "the [[Loonie]]"

===General class name that denotes a specific member of that or an associated class===
* Referring to a [[species]] of an organism or virus by the name of one of its [[Taxonomic rank|hierarchical groups]], e.g., "[[Coronavirus]] [specifically meaning the [[COVID-19]] virus] is rampant throughout the city."
* Using [[technology]] specifically to refer to [[high technology]] or [[electronic device]]s

===Specific class name referring to general set of associated things{{Dubious|reason=these are metonyms|date=March 2025}}===
* "[[John Hancock]]" (used in the United States), for the signature of any person
* A [[genericized trademark]], for example, "[[Xerox]]" for any variety of duplicate made on a [[photocopier]], "[[Coca-Cola|Coke]]" for any variety of [[cola]] (or for any variety of soft drink, as in the southern United States), "[[Kleenex]]" for facial tissues, "[[Vaseline]]" for petroleum jelly, "[[Band-Aid]]" (in the [[United States]]) for any variety of [[adhesive bandage]], "[[Tide (brand)|Tide]]" ([[United States of America|US]]) for any variety of laundry detergent, "[[The Hoover Company|Hoover]]" ([[UK]]) for any variety of [[vacuum cleaner]], or "[[Styrofoam]]" ([[United States of America|US]]) for any product made of expanded [[polystyrene]].

===Referring to material actually or supposedly used to make something===
* "brass" for [[brass instruments]], or the [[shell casing]]s of bullet [[cartridge (ammunition)|cartridge]]s, or the [[Military awards and decorations|medals]] and stars of high-ranking [[military officer]]s
* "lead" for [[bullet]]s, lead being the most common material for making bullets, or for the [[graphite]] core of a pencil
* "vinyl" for [[phonograph record]]s
* "cement" for [[concrete]], cement being just the binder in concrete

===Container refers to its contents===
* "barrel" for a barrel of oil, or the equivalent volume of a standard barrel
* "keg" for a keg of beer
* "She drank the cup", to refer to her drinking of the cup's contents

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Antonomasia]]
* [[Bahuvrihi]]
* [[Category mistake]]
* [[Conceptual metaphor]]
* [[Hendiadys]]
* [[Holonymy]]
* [[Hyponymy]]
* [[Merism]]
* [[Meronymy]]
* [[Faulty generalization]] ({{section link|List of fallacies|Faulty generalizations}})
* [[Fallacy of division]]
* [[Symbol]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book | last = Smyth | first = Herbert Weir |author-link=Herbert Weir Smyth | year = 1920 | title = Greek Grammar | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge MA | isbn = 978-0-674-36250-5 | page = 683}}
* {{cite book | last = Monateri | first = Pier Giuseppe | year = 1958 | title = La Sineddoche. Formule e regole nel diritto delle obbligazioni e dei contratti | publisher = Giuffré | location = Milano}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Synecdoche.ogg|date=2019-7-26}}

{{Figures of speech}}

[[Category:Synecdoche| ]]
[[Category:Figures of speech]]
[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Tropes by type]]