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Pars pro toto is Latin for "(taking) a part for the whole"[1] where a portion of an object or concept represents the entire object or context.

When used in a context of language it 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.


The opposite of a pars pro toto is a totum pro parte, in which the whole is used to describe a part, such as Germany for West Germany or East Germany during the Cold War or America in the place of the United States of America.

A similar term, synecdoche, comes from Greek, meaning 'simultaneous understanding'.