to represent a particular idea: You have to identify what you want your brand to stand for. This party has always stood for working-class values. if a letter or group of letters stands for something, it is an abbreviation of a word or phrase: VAT stands for 'Value Added Tax'.

Metonymy refers to a figure of speech in which the word for one thing is used to refer to something related to that thing, such as crown for “king” or “queen,” or White House or Oval Office for “President.”