A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that has a similar or identical meaning to another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language.[2] For example, in English, words like begin, start, commence, and initiate are synonyms: they are synonymous. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be used interchangeably without changing the sentence's meaning.
Words may be synonymous in only one particular sense: for example, long and extended in the contextlong time or extended time are synonymous, but long cannot be used in the phrase extended family.
Synonyms with identical meanings share a seme or denotational sememe, while those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational or connotational sememe and thus overlap within a semantic field. The former are sometimes known as cognitive synonyms, and the latter are referred to as near-synonyms,[3] plesionyms,[4] or poecilonyms.[5]
Lexicography
Some lexicographers argue that no synonyms are identical (in all contexts or social levels of language) due to differences in etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, connotations, ambiguous meanings, and usage, etc.[6] For example, feline is more formal than cat, and a long arm is not the same as an extended arm, as long and extended are not always interchangeable. Synonyms can also be used as euphemisms.
Metonymy is sometimes a type of synonymy. For example, White House is often used as a synonym of the administration to refer to the U.S. executive branch under a specific president.[7] In this context, metonymy functions as a hyponym of synonymy.[citation needed]
The term synonym is derived from the Latin word synōnymum, which was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word synōnymon (συνώνυμον). It is composed of the Greek elements sýn (σύν, meaning 'together, similar, alike') and -ōnym- (-ωνυμ-), a form of onoma (ὄνομα, meaning 'name').[10]
Loanwords are frequently used as synonyms, often borrowed from the dominant culture's language in a region. European languages commonly borrow from Latin and ancient Greek for technical terms, while native terms are used in everyday language. In East Asia, languages like Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese incorporate Chinese borrowings alongside native words. Arabic and Persian are significant sources of synonymous borrowings in Islamic cultures.
In Turkish, kara and siyah both mean 'black', with kara being a native Turkish word and siyah a borrowing from Persian. In Ottoman Turkish, water is often referred to as su (Turkish), âb (Persian), or mâ (Arabic), "such a triad of synonyms exists in Ottoman for every meaning, without exception". These synonyms in Ottoman Turkish offer nuances and variations in meaning or usage.[12]
In English, Latin (L) and Greek (Gk) terms are often synonymous with Germanic ones. For example, thought and notion (L) are synonymous with idea (Gk), while ring and circle (L) are synonymous with cycle (Gk). English typically uses the Germanic term as a noun, but employs Latin and Greek adjectives. For instance, hand and manual (L) are synonymous with chiral (Gk), and heat and thermal (L) are synonymous with caloric (Gk). In some cases, the Germanic term has become rare or limited to specific meanings, such as tide, time/temporal, and chronic.[13]
Many bound morphemes in English are borrowed from Latin and Greek, serving as synonyms for native words or morphemes. For example, fish corresponds to pisci- (L) and ichthy- (Gk).
Coinages are another source of synonyms, often motivated by linguistic purism. For example, the English word foreword was coined to replace the Romance term preface. In Turkish, the word okul was created to replace the Arabic-derived mektep and mederese, although the latter terms are still used in certain contexts.[14]
Uses
Synonyms often convey subtle differences in meaning or are employed in various registers of speech or writing.
Different technical fields may use synonyms to express specific technical distinctions.
Elegant variation is the practice of avoiding repetition of the same word in proximity by using synonyms. However, modern style guides often criticize this practice.
Examples
Synonyms can be any part of speech, as long as both words are of the same part of speech. Examples:
noun: drink and beverage
verb: buy and purchase
adjective: big and large
adverb: quickly and speedily
preposition: on and upon
Synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words. For example, pupil refers to the aperture in the eye, not a student. He expired is synonymous with he died, but my passport has expired cannot be replaced with my passport has died.
The word poecilonym is a rare synonym of the word synonym. It is not entered in most major dictionaries and is a curiosity or piece of trivia for being an autological word due to its meta nature as a synonym of synonym.
Antonyms are words that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings. For example, hot ↔ cold, large ↔ small, thick ↔ thin, synonym ↔ antonym
Hypernyms and hyponyms are words that represent a broader category and a specific instance within that category. For instance, vehicle is a hypernym of car, while car is a hyponym of vehicle.
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. For example, witch and which are homophones in most accents because they are pronounced the same way.
Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. For example, record can refer to both the act of recording a song and keeping a record of documents.
Homonyms are words that share the same pronunciation and spelling but have different meanings. For example, rose can refer to a type of flower or the past tense of rise.
↑DiMarco, Chrysanne, and Graeme Hirst. "Usage notes as the basis for a representation of near-synonymy for lexical choice." Proceedings of 9th annual conference of the University of Waterloo Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary and Text Research. 1993.
↑Grambs, David. The Endangered English Dictionary: Bodacious Words Your Dictionary Forgot. WW Norton & Company, 1997.
↑"In the strictest sense, synonymous words scarcely exist". Standard Dictionary (Funk & Wagnalls, 1894), entry for synonyms or synonymous, as quoted in Webster's New Dictionary of Synonyms: A Dictionary of Discriminated Synonyms with Antonyms and Analogous and Contrasted Words (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam (Merriam-Webster ser.), [4th ed.] 1973 (SBN 0-87779-141-4)), p.19a (Survey of the History of English Synonymy, in Introductory Matter); accord, Webster's New Dictionary of Synonyms, id., pp.23a–25a, passim (Synonym: Analysis and Definition (titular word & colon italicized in original & subtitle not), in Introductory Matter).
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