metonym
Other forms: metonyms
A metonym is a figure of speech in which an object or idea represents a larger concept that's related to it. Do you know someone who refers to her car as her "ride"? She's using a metonym.
Once you start looking for metonyms, you'll realize how common they are. Ever heard the phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword"? Here, "the pen" is a metonym for writing in general, and "the sword" stands for war or violence. Have you ever read a book that referred to a monarch as "the crown"? Or heard a newscaster talk about the White House making a comment? These are also metonyms. The Greek root, metonymia, means "a change of name."
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a word that denotes one thing but refers to a related thing“Washington is a metonym for the United States government”“plastic is a metonym for credit card”type of:worda unit of language that native speakers can identify
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Vocabulary lists containing metonym
The words on this list all describe other words: their nature, function, or origin. Learn them and consider yourself a citizen of the word!
This vocabulary list features words with the Latin root and suffix nym, meaning "name."