metonymic

From Ancient Greek μετωνυμικός (metōnumikós, “of or like metonymy”), from μετωνυμία (metōnumía, “change of name”), from μετά (metá, “other”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”).

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛt.əˈnɪm.ɪk/

metonymic (comparative more metonymic, superlative most metonymic)

1. Of, or relating to, a word or phrase that names an object from a single characteristic of it or of a closely related object

   The British government is often referred to by the metonymic expression "Downing Street".

   • 1999, Udo Hahn & Katja Markert, "On the Formal Distinction between Literal and Figurative Language", Progress in Artificial Intelligence: 9th Portuguese Conference on Artificial Intelligence, page 140

     With a metonymic expression encountered in almost every sixth utterance, an uncontroversial need for dealing with this problem is demonstrated.

   Synonym: metonymical

• metonymically

metonymic (plural metonymics)

1. a metonym