synecdoche

Meaning

Noun

• a fleet of ships, fifty sail deep – part (sail) for whole (ship)
• the police knocked down my door – whole (the police) for part (some police officers)
• hand me a Kleenex – subclass (brand named product) for class (all similar products)
• A figure of speech that uses the name of a part of something to represent the whole, or the whole to represent a part.
• The use of this figure of speech.

Origin

• Borrowed from Latin synecdochē, from Ancient Greek συνεκδοχή ("receiving together") from σύν + ἐκ + δέχεσθαι, this last element related to δοκέω.