Pars pro toto

Pars pro toto (Latin for 'a part (taken) for the whole'; /ˌpɑːrz pr ˈtt/;[1] Latin: [ˈpars proː ˈtoːtoː]),[2] is a figure of speech where the name of a portion of an object, place, or concept is used or taken to represent its entirety. It is distinct from a merism, which is a reference to a whole by an enumeration of parts; metonymy, where an object, place, or concept is called by something or some place associated with it; or synecdoche, which can refer both to pars pro toto and its inverse: Totum pro parte (Latin for 'the whole for a part').

In the context of language, pars pro toto means that something is named after a part or subset of it, or after a limited characteristic, which in itself is not necessarily representative of the whole. For example, "glasses" is a pars pro toto name for something that consists of more than literally just two pieces of glass (the frame, nosebridge, temples, etc. as well as the lenses). Pars pro toto usage is especially common in political geography, with examples including "Russia" or "Russians", referring to the political institution (both historially and contemporary) or its people; "Holland" for the Netherlands; and, particularly in languages other than English, using the translation of "England" in that language to refer to Great Britain or the United Kingdom. Among English-speakers, "Britain" is a common pars pro toto shorthand for the United Kingdom.

  1. ^ "pars pro toto". Pars pro toto - definition of pars pro toto in English | Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Living Dictionaries: English. Archived from the original on September 26, 2016. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  2. ^ "pars pro toto". Merriam-Webster. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2014-02-03.

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