Most lexical items are polysemous, to a greater or lesser extent. A polysemous item associates a phonological form with a number of more or less discrete though related meanings, which cluster in a family resemblance category. A major topic in the study of polysemy, therefore, is the question of meaning relatedness, and how it is that distinct meanings come to be associated in the first place. This chapter looks at two of the most important processes whereby different meanings get associated, namely metaphor and metonymy. Metonymy and metaphor are familiar concepts of traditional rhetoric. Metaphor, especially, has been the object of much research by linguists and literary scholars, and there is a vast literature on the subject. The chapter begins, however, with the no less important phenomenon of metonymy. (John R. Taylor)