File:Aerial_Closeup_of_the_Pentagon,_May_11,_2021.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ41966· pop 76· linked from 1,230 articles

metonymy

thumb|The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the [[United States Department of Defense and is a common metonym for the US military and its leadership]] Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly seen wearing business attire, such as business executives, bankers, or lawyers.

AI overview

Metonymy is a figure of speech where you refer to something by using the name of something closely associated with it—for example, calling a business executive a "suit" because of the clothing they typically wear. It matters because it's a common and efficient way people communicate, allowing us to reference complex ideas or groups through simpler, related terms like calling the U.S. military "the Pentagon" after its headquarters building.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: The Pentagon US Department of Defense building.jpg

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~15 min read

Article

12 sections

Contents

Etymology
Background
Related concepts
Versus metaphor
Examples
Places and institutions
Art
See also
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading

Metonymies are common in everyday speech and encapsulate a range of other ideas, such as synecdoche and metalepsis. Metonymies are similar to metaphors but where metaphors rely on analogous characteristics to form a comparison, a metonymy is caused by general association of the two objects of comparison.