Pars pro toto

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Pars pro toto, Latin for "a part (taken) for the whole",[1] is a figure of speech where the name of a portion of an object or concept represents the entire object or concept. It is distinct from a merism, which is a reference to a whole by an enumeration of parts.

In the context of language, pars pro toto means that something is named after a part of it, or after a limited characteristic, in itself not necessarily representative for the whole. For example, "glasses" is a pars pro toto name for something that consists of more than just two pieces of glass. Pars pro toto is a common device in iconography, where a particular icon can stand for a complete set of characteristics. Examples of common pars pro toto usage in political geography include "Russia" or "Russians", for the entire former Russian Empire or former Soviet Union or its people, Taiwan for Republic of China, Holland for the Netherlands, and, particularly in languages other than English, using the translation of "England" in that language for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Among English speakers "Great Britain" is a common pars pro toto shorthand for the entire United Kingdom.

The inverse of a pars pro toto is a totum pro parte, in which the whole is used to describe a part, such as widespread use of "America" (which originally named the entire western hemisphere to place it geographically, with alliteration, alongside Asia, Africa, "Europa," and ultimately Arctica, Antarctica and Australia) in place of "United States of America", "United States" or "USA".[2] The term synecdoche is used for both, as well as similar metaphors, though in Greek it literally means "simultaneous understanding".

Pars pro toto (and totum pro parte) can be imprecise, controversial or even offensive. One example is the UK. Many people of the United Kingdom are unhappy with the generalization as England for the United Kingdom, partly because those not in England want to be referred to individually, and partly because those in England don't want to be thought of as the only people within the United Kingdom.

Contents

Geography [edit]

Certain place names are sometimes used to denote an area greater than that warranted by their strict meaning:

Other examples [edit]

  • "Wheels" for automobile
  • "Keel" or "sail" for ship
  • "Head" for individual farm animal, such as "twelve head of cattle" for "twelve cows, bulls, etc."
  • "Big Ben" for Elizabeth Tower

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ pars pro toto - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  2. ^ Online Dictionary of Language Terminology (ODLT) s.v. totum pro parte
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