metonymy English · revision 1162

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɪˈtɒnəmi/ ''(UK)''; /mɪˈtɑnəmi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|metonymia]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) perhaps partly through [[fr|métonymie]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|grc|μετωνυμία|tr=metōnumía|t=change of name]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[af|grc|μετα-|ὄνυμα|tr1=meta-|tr2=ónuma|t1=change|t2=name]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) ''ónuma'' being a dialect form of ''ónoma'' “name”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) An earlier English form was ''metonomian'' (1547).^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A figure of speech in which the name of something is replaced by the name of an attribute or of something closely associated with it (1547 in Merriam-Webster and the OED; 1562 in Barnhart).^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning has stayed the same since the word was borrowed.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) Etymonline notes that it is often applied to places that stand for governments or institutions, such as ''the Porte'' for the Ottoman court (about 1600), ''Whitehall'' for the British civil service, and ''the Kremlin'' for the Russian government.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1547 – ''metonomian'', and the figure of speech.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1562 – ''metonymy''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1600 – ''the Porte'', an early example in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[figure of speech]] in which a word is replaced by another closely associated with it, as ''the crown'' for a monarch or ''Washington'' for the U.S. government.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[metonym]], a word used in this way.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metonymic]]

+ * [[metonymically]]

+ * [[metonym]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[synecdoche]]

+ * [[metaphor]]

+ * [[synonym]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}