Synecdoche

Synecdoche uses a part of something to stand for the whole, or occasionally the whole to stand for a part: 'all hands on deck', 'wheels' for a car, 'Washington' for the government.

All hands on deck. The crew are not hands, and calling them hands does something specific: it reduces them to the part of themselves that is needed. Synecdoche (pronounced sih-NEK-duh-kee) always carries that kind of judgement, which is why it is more than a shortcut.

Synecdoche examples

• Give us this day our daily bread. The Lord's Prayer, King James Bible. Why it works: bread stands for food, and for everything needed to live; one plain thing asks for all of it.
• Two hundred head of cattle. Why it works: the animals are counted as units, which is how the owner sees them.
• He got new wheels. Why it works: a car reduced to the part that matters to him.
• She has a good eye. Why it works: a whole professional skill in one organ.

The direction can reverse, with the whole standing for a part: the office decided, when three people decided, or Brazil beat Italy, when eleven players did.

Synecdoche vs metonymy

Its close relative is metonymy, which substitutes an associated thing rather than a part, since the crown is not a piece of a monarch. Most handbooks treat synecdoche as a species of metonymy, and in practice nothing turns on which label you use. Neither is a metaphor, which links two unrelated things by resemblance.

Synecdoche in fiction

In narrative prose it is a reliable way to render a crowd or an institution without a list. A room described as coats, umbrellas, and a smell of wet wool is a room full of people, and the reader assembles them.

The choice of part is characterisation of whoever is looking (see show, don't tell). A soldier who calls the new recruits boots, a waiter who calls a table the steak and the two salads, and a lover who remembers someone as that laugh are telling you what they notice, and so who they are.

Frequently asked questions

What is synecdoche?

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole, as in 'all hands on deck' for the whole crew. Less often the whole stands for a part, as in 'England won' when eleven players did.

How do you pronounce synecdoche?

sih-NEK-duh-kee, four syllables, with the stress on the second.

What is the difference between synecdoche and metonymy?

Synecdoche uses a part of the thing ('hands' for sailors). Metonymy uses something associated with the thing but not part of it ('the crown' for the monarch). Most handbooks treat synecdoche as a kind of metonymy.