Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which the part is made to represent the whole, or vice-versa.
Synecdoche is a subclass of metonymy where a whole represents a part (“Edmonton” represents the Oilers hockey team), a part represents a whole (“wheels” represent a car), or the material used to make an object represents the whole object (“plastic” represents a credit card).
With metonymy, the part that is used to represent the whole is not part of the whole.
(Source: Journal #6 Topic: Metonymy vs. Synecdoche, TeacherWeb.com PDF)
The word synecdoche comes from Greek syn- (“together”) and ekdochē (“interpretation”). Read more on its use in poetry and Shakespeare here (Merriam-Webster), with some excellent examples here (SoftSchools).
GIF from giphy.com
Examples of synecdoche
- Edmonton won in overtime. (“Edmonton” represents Edmonton’s hockey team, the Oilers.)
- Like my new wheels? (“Wheels” are a part of a car used to represent the whole car.)
- Lend me a hand. (Means “Help me out,” where a hand is a part of the person.)
- She is the breadwinner. (Means main income earner, where “bread” represents food in general or money.)
- Teaching is my bread and butter.
- I paid with plastic. (Paid with a credit card, which is made of plastic.)
- Ten sail left yesterday. (Refers to ten ships. Sails are parts of the ships.)
- The farmer has 200 head. (“Head” represents the whole cattle.)
Examples of metonymy
One thing (an object or place) is used to represent a larger, more abstract concept.
- “Crown” is used to represent a king or queen. (A crown and a person are not parts of each other.)
- The “press” often refers to journalists (who used printing presses in the past), not the press (machine) itself.
(Sources: Glossary of Fiction Writing Terms, scribendi.com and Journal #6 Topic: Metonymy vs. Synecdoche, TeacherWeb.com PDF)
Other sources and references
LiteraryDevices.net
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Quora.com
Scribendi.com
SoftSchools.com
Wikipedia: Synecdoche
See also: M is for Moving Along with Motifs — And More (Metonymy, Mood, Music)
Really interesting one today, well done. Enjoy the rest day and look forward to the final week of the challenge 🙂
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Thanks. Good luck with yours. I have a writing conference today — I’m behind on A to Z readings but will catch up.
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It’s the final week to get taxes done, so things have been a little hectic. Hence my Taxing Tax Time A to Z poem, part one! (The post after this one. Part 2 is coming April 30.) Creativity relieves stress. I wrote most of it on the bus to my guitar lesson yesterday.
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This is interesting. Will keep this in mind.. 🙂
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Okay, I need a mediator. How would one pronounce synecdoche? Is it a) ‘sin-ek-do-key’, or is it, as one of my English teachers put it, b) ‘sin-eh-doesh’? Personally I do not know, but I was sure taken aback when I heard it said the second way.
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sin EK do kee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9LH3VcwUB8 (Oxford Dictionaries)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcv8sXQ-tbI (Pronounce Channel)
Depends which language origin. Without knowing that, it’s hard to know what the pronunciation is. It’s not from French (as your example b would suggest). If the origin is Greek, it’s a whole different sound system:
It’s “late Middle English: via Latin from Greek sunekdokhē, from sun- ‘together’ + ekdekhesthai ‘take up’” (Google).
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I’m always fascinated by your language analyses. Thank you, Eva! I’ll be sure to correct the teacher the next time I see him 😉
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