Rhetoric & FiguresIntermediate
Metonymy
A figure that names something by an associated thing.
Principle
Association can stand in for identity.
Takeaways
- Metonymy relies on contiguity rather than resemblance.
- It can compress institutions, places, and powers into concrete terms.
- It works when the association is culturally or textually legible.
Overview
Metonymy substitutes an associated term for the thing meant: crown for monarchy, press for journalism, stage for theatre. Unlike metaphor, it does not claim likeness; it uses relation.
Examples
- The crown refuses the petition.
- The whole room waited for the bench to speak.