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Metonymy vs. Synecdoche: Definitions, Differences, & Examples

Synecdoche and metonymy are literary devices that do not often feature heavily in rhetorical analysis of literature. Nonetheless, it is important to know the differences between the two. This is especially so since the definitions of these two words are so close to each other.


Both words refer to a figure of speech, which involves words being used to represent something else. The key difference lies in the fact that synecdoche occurs when the word for a part of something is used to refer to the thing itself (e.g., head for “person” in “Tickets sold at 10 dollars per head). It can also be less commonly the case that the word for a thing itself is used to refer to part of that thing (e.g., when “class” is used to suggest “upper class"). 


On the other hand, metonymy occurs when a word that is associated with something is used to refer to that thing. An example of this White House referring to the United States as a state or the president of the United States. 


In this article, I take a brief look at a few examples of metonymy and synecdoche and examine how they are used in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses."


Portrait of Alfred Tennyson, portrait by P. Krämer
Portrait of Alfred Tennyson, portrait by P. Krämer

Examples of Metonymy

  1. The Pen is mightier than the Sword. – Here, "pen" symbolizes the act of writing, while "sword" means violence. The phrase suggests that influencing people through the power of words is more powerful than influence through military violence.

  2. Moscow waited for a response from the White House – "The White House" is used  as a stand in for the U.S. President or the US executive branch of government, whereas Moscow is used to represent the Russian President or Russia’s executive branch of government.

  3. Hollywood is facing stiff competition from streaming services. "Hollywood" here is a stand-in for the traditional American film industry. It doesn’t refer to the actual district located within the city of Los Angeles, California.


Examples of Synecdoche

  1. All hands on deck. – Here, "hands" is a stand-in for sailors or crew members on a ship. 


  1. Twelve sails on the horizon. Here, "sails" represents ships. 


  1. Faces in the crowd. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd/Petals on a wet, black bough.” (Pound, “In a Station of the Metro,” 1913). Faces here represent individuals in the crowd. 


  1. Lend me your ears. Mark Antony uses this phrase during Julius Caesar's funeral speech in Julius Caesar (Act III, Scene II) to mean attention from the audience while he speaks. In other words, it’s a phrase that means “listen.”


  1. Being in good hands. This implies that someone is being well cared for. The part "hands" stands for the one giving care. 


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Synecdoche and  Metonymy in the poem  Ulysses

The poem Ulysses (1842) by Alfred Lord Tennyson has examples of both metonymy and synecdoche. Here are a few excerpts from the poem: 


I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those

That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when

Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;

For always roaming with a hungry heart


The poem is written from the perspective of Ulysses, the Roman name for Odysseus, the famous traveler who wandered 10 years after the Trojan war before making his way back home to Ithaca. 


He is back and home and restless. He wants to travel again. The phrase “I am become a name” is metonymy for being famous, where name represents the fame he has gained for his epic journeys. 


Later in the poem in Stanza 2, he says the following:


This is my son, mine own Telemachus,

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle


Here “the sceptre and the isle” is representative of his kingdom. In short, he has decided to resume his life of travel and adventure and leave his kingdom to his son, Telemachus. This means that this is an example of metonymy.


Lastly, in Stanza 3 of the poem, he describes resuming his life of sailing and adventuring with his crew: 


There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;


His mariners are referred to as “souls,” “Free hearts,” and “free foreheads.” This is an example of synecdoche, with the part referencing the whole. For example, free hearts and free foreheads refers to the sailors. 


These are not descriptions we are used to. For example, mariners would be typically referred to as “hands on deck.” However, they are quite appropriate here since Tennyson is referring to spiritual work, that is, the quest for knowledge, truth, and adventure, especially with the terms “free hearts” and “souls.” 


In addition, the term “free foreheads” is particularly descriptive as it suggests the creased foreheads of mariners standing on deck under the hot sun. 

Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2025, May 10). Metonymy vs. Synecdoche: Definitions, Differences, & Examples. EminentEdit.  https://www.eminentediting.com/post/metonymy-vs-synecdoche


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