metonymy
Associated term substitution
Metonymy is a figure of speech where something is called by the name of something closely associated with it.
The White House issued a statement means the president or administration did.
The pen is mightier than the sword substitutes pen for written word, sword for military force.
The technique pervades everyday speech: Wall Street for finance, Hollywood for the film industry, the crown for monarchy.
Part standing for whole
- stand-inTemporary human placeholder
- proxyAuthorized substitute
- surrogateOne acting for another
- representativeOne who acts for another
shorthand · referent · displacement · association · contiguity · suits · Hollywood · hands
Part standing for whole
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
irony · antithesis · oxymoron · anaphora · ellipsis · litotes · kenning · personification
Representational sign or device
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- badgeWorn symbol of membership
- insigniaDistinguishing mark of rank
- figureheadNominal leader, no authority
brand · logo · flag · standard · colors · mascot · hallmark · totem
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
signification · polysemy · construal · framing · lexeme
Person lending their name
- brand-nameProprietary product name
- appellativeNaming word or title
- designationFormal name or title
- GoogleDominant web search provider
Hoover · aspirin · hertz · watt · boycott · sandwich · silhouette · guillotine
synecdoche
Part standing for whole
representative · shorthand · referent · displacement · association · contiguity · suits · Hollywood · hands · wheels
synecdoche
Part standing for whole
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
hyperbole · irony · antithesis · oxymoron · anaphora · ellipsis · litotes · kenning · personification · apostrophe
emblem
Representational sign or device
figurehead · brand · logo · flag · standard · colors · mascot · hallmark · totem · representation
semantics
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
connotation · signification · polysemy · construal · framing · lexeme
eponym
Person lending their name
- brand-nameProprietary product name
- appellativeNaming word or title
- designationFormal name or title
Google · Hoover · aspirin · hertz · watt · boycott · sandwich · silhouette · guillotine · champagne
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- figuresfigure of speech, figure, trope, simile, metaphor
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- figurative languagemetaphor, simile, figure of speech, analogy, personification