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Pars pro toto (Latin for 'a part (taken) for the whole'; /ˌpɑːrzproʊˈtoʊtoʊ/;[1]Latin:[ˈparsproːˈtoːtoː]),[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.
^"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.
^"pars pro toto". Merriam-Webster. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
representative of the whole). A parsprototo (in which a part is used to describe the whole) is the opposite of a totum pro parte. Some place names of large...
for a part of something is used to refer to the whole (parsprototo), or vice versa (totum pro parte). The term is derived from Ancient Greek συνεκδοχή...
whole entity being used to refer to a part of it (totum pro parte), and vice versa (parsprototo) American (word) for the United States/Americas/North...
the Old Swiss Confederacy. The name originates as an exonym, applied parsprototo to the troops of the Confederacy. The Swiss themselves began to adopt...
(Brunswick), Germany. The church is termed Dom, in German a synecdoche - parsprototo - used for cathedrals and collegiate churches alike, and much like the...
Winning side in the Russian Civil War (1917–23) Soviet Union (1922–91), parsprototo, the Russian SFSR being the predominant component of the union Red Ruthenia...
Olmec archaeological record, and in many cases, under the principle of parsprototo, the werejaguar motif represents the werejaguar supernatural. The werejaguar...
the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands. This example of parsprototo or synecdoche is similar to the tendency to refer to the United Kingdom...
(historically in Spanish: Flandes, the name "Flanders" was used as a parsprototo) was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs...
of that word. German Dom and Polish tum became the synecdoche used – parsprototo – for most existing or former collegiate churches. Therefore, translation...
the Bijlmer designation is used to refer to Amsterdam Zuidoost as a parsprototo.[citation needed] The other neighbourhoods in Amsterdam Zuidoost are...
adding kreuzweis (crosswise), and that term alone is also used as a parsprototo abbreviation. The Swabian salute first received literary honors in Goethe's...
during the Bronze Age. The Greeks later applied this term Illyrians, parsprototo, to all people with similar language and customs. In archaeological...
and it became the capital city of Western Australia. The name was a parsprototo for Western Australia. On 6 February 1832, the colony was renamed the...
are, rather, a more or less random selection intended to represent parsprototo the structure of the imperial constitution. Over its long history, the...
for photocopy, Kleenex for tissues, or Jell-O for gelatin dessert). Parsprototo, or a name applied to something that covers only part of a region. People...
are, rather, a more or less random selection intended to represent parsprototo the structure of the imperial constitution. Princes of the Holy Roman...
Kenning List of metonyms Meronymy Newspeak Parsprototo Simile Slang Sobriquet Social stereotype Synecdoche Totum pro parte "metonymy". Cambridge University...
the figure of speech of two forms: Parsprototo using the word for a part by way of referring to the whole Totum pro parte using the word for the whole...
the whole shoe as a "stiletto", not just the heel, via synecdoche (parsprototo). Although they faded from the scene after the Beatles era began, their...
Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, made Holland a parsprototo for the entire country. Many Dutch people object to the country being...
name of one of its parts (or vice versa): Parsprototo, where the part is used to refer to the whole. Totum pro parte, where the whole is used to refer...
the figure of speech of two forms: Parsprototo using the word for a part by way of referring to the whole Totum pro parte using the word for the whole...
Santiago. The name "A Famosa" is thus a unique case of a parsprototo which then became a totum pro parte over the course of time. In 1511, a Portuguese...
Christians. Similarly, medieval Middle Eastern Muslims frequently used the parsprototo 'Frank' to refer to any Christian or crusader, whether they were from...
indicated Mt. Kenya as Mt. Kenia. The mountain's name was accepted, parsprototo, as the name of the country. It did not come into widespread official...
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