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Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which:

• a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or
• a term denoting a thing (a "whole") is used to refer to part of it, or
• a term denoting a specific class of thing (a "species") is used to refer to a larger, more general class (a "genus"), or
• a term denoting a general class of thing (genus) is used to refer to a smaller, more specific class (species), or
• a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material.

Synecdoche is closely related to metonymy (the figure of speech in which a term denoting one thing is used to refer to a related thing); indeed, synecdoche is often considered a subclass of metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as metaphor.

The use of synecdoche is a common way to emphasize an important aspect of a fictional character; for example, a character might be consistently described by a single body part, such as the eyes, which come to represent the character.

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.

• Examples where a part of something is used to refer to the whole:
  • "The hired hands [workers] are not doing their jobs."
  • "His parents bought him a new set of wheels [car]."
  • Similarly, "mouths to feed" for hungry people, "white hair" for an elderly person, "the press" for news media.

• Examples where the whole of something is used to refer to a part of it:
  • "Use your head [brain] to figure it out."
  • "Michigan [the government of Michigan] just passed a law addressing this problem."
  • Similarly, "body" for the trunk of the body, the "smiling year" for spring

• Examples where a species (specific kind) is used to refer to its genus (more general kind):
  • "The cutthroats [assassins] there will as soon shoot a man as look at him."
  • "Could you pass me a Kleenex [facial tissue]?"
  • Similarly, "coke" for soda, "castle" for home, "bread" for food, "Judas" for traitor

• Examples where a genus is used to refer to a species:
  • "No creature [person] would believe that story."

• Examples where the material an object is made of is used to refer to the object itself:
  • "Those are some nice threads [clothes]."
  • "Would you like paper or plastic [paper or plastic bags]?"
  • Similarly, "willow" for cricket bat, "copper" for penny, "boards" for stage, "ivories" for piano keys, "plastic" for credit card, "the hardwood" for a gym floor

• Conceptual metaphor
• Figure of speech
• Metonymy
• Pars pro toto
• Totum pro parte
• Hendiadys
• Synecdoche, New York

Look up synecdoche in
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• Synecdoche from Silva Rhetoricæ: The Forest of Rhetoric