synecdoche

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈnɛk.də.ki/^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English synodoches,^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin synodoche, an alteration of Late Latin synecdochē,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek συνεκδοχή (sunekdokhḗ, “a receiving together; the putting of a whole for a part”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from sunekdékhesthai “to take with something else, supply a word”,^[2][3][4] from sun- “with”, ek “out” and dékhesthai “to receive”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The spelling was corrected after the Latin in the late 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole or the whole for a part (1388 in the OED; before 1397 as synodoches in Barnhart).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same,^[7][2][5] though the OED notes that the word was formerly sometimes used loosely or misexplained.^[4] Typical examples are hands for workers and wheels for a car.^[4]

Timeline

• 1388 – the figure of speech.^[7]
• 1483 – spelling synecdoche.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole (as hands for workers), the whole for a part, the species for the genus, the genus for the species, or the material for the thing made (as steel for a sword).

Word family

• synecdochic
• synecdochical
• synecdochically

Related words

• docetism
• metonymy
• decent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press