Lexic.us

Definition of Metonymy

1. Noun. Substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads').

Definition of Metonymy

1. n. A trope in which one word is put for another that suggests it; as, we say, a man keeps a good table instead of good provisions; we read Virgil, that is, his poems; a man has a warm heart, that is, warm affections.

Definition of Metonymy

1. Noun. The use of a single characteristic or name of an object to identify an entire object or related object. ¹

2. Noun. A metonym. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Metonymy

1. a type of figure of speech [n -MIES]

Medical Definition of Metonymy

1. A trope in which one word is put for another that suggests it; as, we say, a man keeps a good table instead of good provisions; we read Virgil, that is, his poems; a man has a warm heart, that is, warm affections. Origin: L. Metonymia, Gr., indicating change +, for a name: cf. F. Metonymie. See Name. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Metonymy

Literary usage of Metonymy

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures by Thomas Hartwell Horne (1825)
"metonymy of the adjunct, in which the adjunct is put for the subject. A metonymy of the cause is used in Scripture, when the person acting is put for the ..."

2. A Reference Grammar of Classical Tamil Poetry by V. S. Rajam (1992)
"60 metonymy AND METAPHOR GENERAL: metonymy and metaphor are figures of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were another. ..."

3. Public School Methods (1921)
"metonymy and Synecdoche. In metonymy the name of something associated with a ... Our everyday speech is full of metonymy that has become so familiar we ..."

4. A System of Oratory Delivered in a Course of Lectures Publicly Read at by John Ward (1759)
"i« Now a metonymy, as defined by Quin- «/«/. «;? ... a Metaphor is a metonymy, whether we confider its force and elegancy, or the frequent ufe of it botja ..."

5. A Manual of Composition and Rhetoric by John S. Hart (1878)
"metonymy. metonymy means a change of name. This is a figure in which the name of one object is put for some other object, the two being so related that the ..."

6. The Might and Mirth of Literature: A Treatise on Figurative Language. In by John Walker Vilant Macbeth (1876)
"metonymy.—Synecdoche.—Metalepsis. XXXVII. THE class of figures now to be considered is metonymy: a title that comes from two Greek words, which, ..."

7. Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory: Delivered to the Classes of Senior and by John Quincy Adams (1810)
"metonymy. SYNECDOCHE. FROM 'the class of figures, which convey a meaning ... Of these the two principal figures have been denominated the metonymy, ..."

8. Elements of Rhetoric: Designed as a Manual of Instruction by Henry Coppée (1866)
"Prophetic language is rendered more sublime by the use of metonymy. ... *Mcm is used in the sense of the Latin tram, and therefor* metonymy means a change ..."

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