What is metonymy?

Definition
	Here are two senses for metonymy:
	Metonymy is, broadly defined, a trope in which one entity is used to stand for another associated entity. Metonymy is, more specifically, a replacive relationship that is the basis for a number of conventional metonymic expressions occurring in ordinary language.

Examples (English)

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Pen and sword represent publishing and military force, respectively.
The following examples illustrate the controller-for-controlled metonymy:
- Nixon bombed Hanoi.
  
  Nixon stands for the armed forces that Nixon controlled.
- A Mercedes rear-ended me.
  
  The word me stands for the car that the speaker was driving.

Source:

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 38

Kinds
	Here are some kinds of metonymies:
	What is a conventional metonymy? What is antonomasia? What is a synecdoche?

Generic
	Metonymy is a kind of
	What is a trope?

Sources
	Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 35–36, 38
	Mish 1991 748
	Beekman and Callow 1974 116

Context for this page:

Concept module: metonymy
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): M
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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