synecdochically
- adverb
- /sɪˈnɛkdəˌkɪkli/
- Literature
- When the term 'the White House issued a statement' is used, it acts synecdochically, as it refers to the President and his administration rather than the building itself.
Examples
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Referring to business executives simply as 'suits' is a synecdochical way to depict them by their attire instead of their roles.
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In this way, Joey synecdochically stands in for the larger Filipino people across multiple colonizations and occupations.
Academic text (2016) -
But nineteenth-century historical culture, as explored by White and by myself, also sought to render the world of the past synecdochically present, and sometimes enshrined its message in metaphor.
Academic text (2007) -
On the other hand, the feminine implications of the baby's bottle distending the boy's breast pocket, its evocations not only of caregiving but also synecdochically of the mother herself, contradict the bowler.
Academic text (1996) -
The phrase 'all hands on deck' is used synecdochically, referring to the crew as a part representing the whole ship.
How Figurative
Surface Forms
Morphology
synecdochically = synecdochic (transparent) = synecdoche + ic + ally
Formed regularly from the adjective 'synecdochic' by adding the adverbial suffix '-ally'; meaning straightforwardly derives from the adjective.
Etymology
Synecdochically comes from synecdoche, which has the part syn- 'together' and a Greek element that means 'take', and it pictures a 'part' standing for the 'whole' or the whole for a part. So, to speak synecdochically is to use a part to mean the whole (like saying 'wheels' for a car) or to use the whole to mean a part (like 'the White House' for the U.S. administration).