Totum pro parte

Totum pro parte is Latin for "the whole for a part"; it refers to a kind of metonymy. The plural is tota pro partibus, "wholes for parts". In context of language, it means something is named after something of which it is only a part (or only a limited characteristic, not necessarily representative of the whole). A pars pro toto (in which a part is used to describe the whole) is the opposite of a totum pro parte.^[1]

In geography

Some place names of large areas are commonly used to refer synonymously to a smaller part of the larger area than is strictly deemed correct. Examples of this include:

• "America" for the United States (see use of the word American)
• "Asia" for East and Southeast Asia (conversely, Asia is a pars pro toto, originally referring only to Asia Minor)
• "China" for the People's Republic of China since the 1970s, and prior to that, the Republic of China
• "The Congo" for the Republic of the Congo or the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• "Europe" for the European Union or for Continental Europe excluding the British Isles
• "Germany" was often used for West Germany during the Cold War
• "Ireland" for the Republic of Ireland excluding Northern Ireland
• "Korea" for South Korea, excluding North Korea
• "Macedonia" for the Republic of North Macedonia (see Macedonia naming dispute)
• "Micronesia" for the Federated States of Micronesia
• Nanyang, Maritime Southeast Asia, Malay Archipelago, Sunda Islands for Indonesia
• "Ulster" for Northern Ireland
• "Western Hemisphere" for the Americas
• "Yemen" was often used for North Yemen
• "Northumbria" for North East England or historic Northumberland and County Durham

Other examples

The verb "to drink" is often used in this manner. Depending on context it can stand for the generic, standard definition "to consume a liquid" (e.g. "I'm thirsty, is there anything to drink?") or for the narrow, limited definition "to imbibe alcoholic beverages" (e.g. "He goes out to drink too often"). Also, fluid can be used for liquid, as in brake fluid or bodily fluid. (The presence of air, a fluid, is not wanted when there is low fluid.)

• "Ranked-choice voting" as a misnomer for "Instant-runoff voting"
• "Internet" for the "World Wide Web (WWW)"; the Internet is a network of computer networks, whereas the WWW is a network of hypertext documents that one accesses via the Internet.
• "PC" to mean a computer running Microsoft Windows
• "Summer" to mean only summer vacation

Athletic teams

• "Go Navy: beat Army" (a cheer for the team representing the United States Naval Academy in a contest against the team representing the United States Military Academy)
• "Houston will be in New York this weekend"
• "Russia thrashed the Czech Republic" (the Russia national football team defeated the Czech Republic national football team)

See also

• Hyperbole
• Metonymy
• Pars pro toto
• Synecdoche

References

This page was last edited on 20 March 2024, at 21:55