sə̇ˈnekdə(ˌ)kē noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin, from Greek synekdochē, from syn- + ekdochē interpretation, from ekdechesthai to receive from another, understand in a certain way, from ek, ex out of, from + dechesthai to take, accept, receive; akin to Greek dokein to seem good — more at ex- , decent
: a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (as fifty sail for fifty ships ), the whole for a part (as the smiling year for spring ), the species for the genus (as cutthroat for assassin ), the genus for the species (as a creature for a man ), or the name of the material for the thing made (as willow for bat ) — compare metonymy