Metonymy is a trope in which the name of a thing is replaced by the name of an associated, contiguous thing. Unlike metaphor where the interaction between the tenor and the vehicle is based on resemblance, metonymy reflects
the actually existing relations between the tenor and vehicle whose interaction is thus based on their contiguity.
The vehicle of metonymy is expressed by nouns. It is intended to strike the imagination more vividly than what it stands for (the tenor). Since the types of relations between the tenor and vehicle are finite in metonymy, most cases of this trope are familiar. Cases of purely artistic metonymy usually present relations between a part and the whole (synecdoche). The following is the traditional classification of the types of relations recognized between tenor and vehicle in metonymy.
(a) A part is put for the whole (including an individual for a class, or singular for plural). The metonymy with this type of relations between tenor and vehicle is called synecdосhe.
Apart from synecdoche there are numerous other types of relations between tenor and vehicle in metonymy which however, have no special names, and most of which are familiar.
(b) The symbol is put for the person or thing symbolized.
(c) The instrument is put for the agent.
(d) The container is put for the thing contained.
(e) The effect is put for the cause.
(f) The maker for the thing made.
(g) The name of a passion is put for the object of passion.
(h) The material is put for the thing made.
(j) The abstract is put for the concrete.
