synecdoche

[ si-nek-duh-kee ]
/ sɪˈnɛk də ki /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR synecdoche ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Rhetoric.

a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships or a Croesus for a rich man.

Origin of synecdoche

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin < Greek synekdochḗ, equivalent to syn- syn- + ekdochḗ act of receiving from another, equivalent to ek- ec- + -dochē, noun derivative of déchesthai to receive

OTHER WORDS FROM synecdoche

syn·ec·doch·ic [sin-ik-dok-ik] /ˌsɪn ɪkˈdɒk ɪk/, syn·ec·doch·i·cal, adjective syn·ec·doch·i·cal·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH synecdoche

Schenectady synecdoche

Words nearby synecdoche

syndicate, syndiotactic, syndrome, syndrome x, syne, synecdoche, synechia, synechiotomy, synechism, synecious, synecology

Words related to synecdoche

allegory, allusion, analogy, anticlimax, antithesis, bathos, comparison, conceit, device, euphemism, euphuism, exaggeration, expression, flourish, flower, hyperbole, image, imagery, irony, metaphor

Example sentences from the Web for synecdoche

British Dictionary definitions for synecdoche

synecdoche
/ (sɪnˈɛkdəkɪ) /

noun

a figure of speech in which a part is substituted for a whole or a whole for a part, as in 50 head of cattle for 50 cows, or the army for a soldier

Derived forms of synecdoche

synecdochic (ˌsɪnɛkˈdɒkɪk) or synecdochical, adjective synecdochically, adverb

Word Origin for synecdoche

C14: via Latin from Greek sunekdokhē, from syn- + ekdokhē interpretation, from dekhesthai to accept