Word.ws English Dictionary

metonymy

UK/mɪˈtɒnəmi//mɪˈtɑnəmi/

metonymy noun: the use of a single characteristic or part of an object, concept or phenomenon to identify the entire object, concept, phenomenon or a related object.

metonymy: a tall building with a golden top on a cloudy day
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Noun

metonymy (countable and uncountable, plural metonymies)

  1. (rhetoric) The use of a single characteristic or part of an object, concept or phenomenon to identify the entire object, concept, phenomenon or a related object.
    • Metonymy does new names impose,
      And things for things by near relation shews.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Metonymy.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 7
    • ...the principle of metonymy is simply to substitute for the plain name of a thing a name or phrase based on something connected with it.1891 September, William Minto, “Practical talks on writing English”, in Theodor Flood, editor, The Chautauquan, volume 13, →OCLC, page 279
  2. (countable) A metonym.

metonymy meaning in Tamil, Tagalog and Vietnamese

metonymy in Tamil

figure of speech
ஆகுபெயர் ākupeyar

metonymy in Tagalog

figure of speech
halituring

metonymy in Vietnamese

figure of speech
hoán dụ

Forms of metonymy

pluralmetonymies

Origin of metonymy

From Late Latin metonymia, from Ancient Greek μετωνυμίᾱ (metōnumíā, “change of name”), from μετά (metá, “other”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).

Words formed from metonymy

Words that rhyme with metonymy

19 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about metonymy

What does metonymy mean?
Metonymy means the use of a single characteristic or part of an object, concept or phenomenon to identify the entire object, concept, phenomenon or a related object.
What is metonymy in Tamil?
Metonymy in Tamil is ஆகுபெயர் (ākupeyar). See Metonymy meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is metonymy?
Metonymy is a noun.
How do you pronounce metonymy?
Metonymy is pronounced /mɪˈtɑnəmi/ (US).
What is the plural of metonymy?
The plural of metonymy is metonymies.

Words near metonymy in the dictionary

  1. metonymizes
  2. metonymizing
  3. metonymous
  4. metonymously
  5. metonyms
  6. metonymy
  7. metoo
  8. metooed
  9. metooing
  10. metooism
  11. metooisms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: metonymy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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