Synecdoche

From Free net encyclopedia

Synecdoche is a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which:

A part of something is used for the whole,
The whole is used for a part,
The species is used for the genus,
The genus is used for the species, or
The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing.

Synecdoche, as well as forms of metonymy, is one of the most common ways to characterize a fictional character. Frequently, someone will be consistently described by a single body part or feature, such as the eyes, which comes to represent their person.

Also, sonnets and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a whole, coherent self. This practice is especially common in the Petrarchan sonnet, where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, from head to toe.

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Examples

A part of something is used for the whole
- "hands" to refer to workers, "head" for cattle, "threads" for clothing, "wheels" for car, "mouths to feed" for hungry people, "white hair" for the elderly

The whole is used for a part
- "the police" for a handful of officers, "body" for the trunk of the body, the "smiling year" for spring, "the Pentagon" for the top-ranking generals in the Pentagon building

The species is used for the genus
- "cutthroat" for assassin, "kleenex" for facial tissue, "coke" for soda, "castle" for home, "bread" for food

The genus is used for the species
- "creature" for person, "milk" for cow's milk

The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing
- "willow" for cricket bat, "copper" for penny, "boards" for stage, "ivories" for piano keys, "plastic" for credit card, "the hardwood" for a gym floor.

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