different between metonymic vs merismus

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????????? (met?numikós, “of or like metonymy”), from ????????? (met?numía, “change of name”), from ???? (metá, “other”) + ????? (ónuma, “name”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?m?t.??n?m.?k/

Adjective

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
   • 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

Derived terms

• metonymically

Related terms

Translations

Noun

metonymic (plural metonymics)

1. a metonym

Translations

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???????? (merismós, “a dividing”), derived from the Ancient Greek verb ?????? (meríz?, “to divide into parts”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m????zm?s/

Noun

merismus

1. (rhetoric) A metonymic term to describe a type of synecdoche in which two parts of a thing, perhaps contrasting or complementary parts, are made to stand for the whole.

Usage notes

The term was generally used around in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (It can be found used to describe both Shakespeare and Christian Reformation theologians by their contemporaries.) It then seems to have fallen into disuse, only being revived in the middle of the twentieth century.

References

• merismus, in Worldwide Words.com'