Merismus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rhetorical figure in which a whole is expressed by naming its parts, such as saying head and feet for an entire person
2. The figure of speech that refers to a complete thing by listing its separate components or opposite extremes
3. A rhetorical device that stands for a whole through a set of its constituent parts, as in lending a hand for helping

Etymology: Merismus is a rhetorical figure in which a whole is described by listing its parts, as when someone says "the whole family, mother, father, children and grandparents, came to the wedding" to mean everyone came. The name comes from Ancient Greek "merismós", meaning "a dividing", which itself grows from the verb "merízō", "to divide into parts". The Greek word thus describes the act of splitting something apart, and the figure turns that act around: the speaker divides a thing mentally in order to name its pieces and so convey the thing as a whole.