metonymy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- (General-American) audio
- /mɪˈtɒnəmi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /mɪˈtɑnəmi/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Late Latin metonymia, from Ancient Greek μετωνυμίᾱ (metōnumíā, “change of name”), from μετά (metá, “other”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).
Meanings
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(countable, rhetoric, uncountable) 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.
...the principle of metonymy is simply to substitute for the plain name of a thing a name or phrase based on something connected with it.
1891 September 14, William Minto, “Practical talks on writing English”, in Theodor Flood, editor, The Chautauquan, volume 13, →OCLC, page 279:THE KEY CONCEPT IS “metonymy.” This is the act of a word or phrase associated with a concept coming to represent the entirety of said concept. Generally, this means an extension of the original meaning. For example, “city hall” no longer means just the structure, but also the lawmakers who inhabit that structure. In the same way, “dish” started as the physical plate a meal is served on, before people started using it to represent the meal itself.
2015 January 16, Rick Paulas, “The Linguistics of Tragedy”, in Pacific Standard, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2025:Metonymy does new names impose, And things for things by near relation shews.
1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Metonymy.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 7:
- (countable) A metonym.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| metonymies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
figurativeness · metaphor · synecdoche
Deriveds
metonymically · metonym · metonymic · metonymous
Hypernyms
Relateds
Translations (46)
is merkingarskipti (figure of speech) · nb metonymi (figure of speech) · it metonimia (figure of speech) · tl halituring (figure of speech) · ca metonímia (figure of speech) · de Metonymie (figure of speech) · ga meatonaime (figure of speech) · fr métonymie (figure of speech) · hu érintkezésen alapuló névátvitel (figure of speech) · da metonymi (figure of speech) · pt metonímia (figure of speech) · ta ஆகுபெயர் (figure of speech) · ka მეტონიმია (figure of speech) · cmn 轉喻 /转喻 (figure of speech) · es metonimia (figure of speech) · tr düz değişmece (figure of speech) · ru метони́мия (figure of speech) · gl metonimia (figure of speech) · nl metonymia (figure of speech) · af metonimie (figure of speech) · la metonymia (figure of speech) · hu metonímia (figure of speech) · de Namenvertauschung (figure of speech) · sv metonymi (figure of speech) · tr metonimi (figure of speech) · tr ad aktarması (figure of speech) · ja 換喩 (figure of speech) · tr mecazımürsel (figure of speech) · el μετωνυμία (figure of speech) · sl metonimija (figure of speech) · nb talemåte (figure of speech) · ko 환유 (figure of speech) · ro metonimie (figure of speech) · is nafnhvörf (figure of speech) · az metonimiya (figure of speech) · hy փոխանունություն (figure of speech) · fi metonymia (figure of speech) · scn mitunimia (figure of speech) · hy մետոնիմիա (figure of speech) · pl metonimia (figure of speech) · cmn 換喻 /换喻 (figure of speech) · scn mitunimìa (figure of speech) · vi hoán dụ (figure of speech) · cs metonymie (figure of speech) · ja 換喩法 (figure of speech) · yue 借代 (figure of speech)