Pars pro toto

; ˌpɑːrz_prəʊ_ˈtəʊtəʊ; ˈpars proː ˈtoːtoː), 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. 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", used to refer to the entire former Russian Empire or former Soviet Union 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. "Schweiz", Switzerland's name in German, comes from its central canton of Schwyz. An example of a pars pro toto in geography is the use of the capital to refer generally to the country such as Washington for the United States, Beijing for China, Moscow for Russia, Berlin for Germany, Tokyo for Japan, Paris for France, London for the United Kingdom, Rome for Italy, etc. When the capital is used to refer specifically to the country's government, the figure of speech is a metonymy rather than a pars pro toto.