Talk:Synonym

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 27 August 2019 and 10 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jtbuffit.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 10:36, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled question

What does this mean in the second paragraph: "which can never occur singly because each synonym must refer to another word"? If it can be deleted, the sentence would flow better. wleman 14:16, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Dead End Source

The source for the image at the top of the page, the list of synonyms on cuneiform, goes to a Page Not Found page at the British Museum website. The same image can be found here, at worldhistory.org: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/3132/cuneiform-synonyms-list/

Noun Examples

"petty offense" and "misdemeanor" are listed as synonyms for each other. I don't know about other states, but this is not true in Arizona. A petty offense in Arizona is a lesser crime than a misdemeanor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.106.246.225 (talk) 19:16, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Synonyms for synonym

Does synonym have any synonyms? If so, list them here! Tounge in cheek but cool.

Bearing in mind, there is rarely an exact equivalent as every synonym has a connotation which slightly varies from its counterpart, here goes:

equivalent, analog(ue),alikeness, equality, interchangeability, similarity, synonymy, compatibility, paralellism...

There are almost certainly more, I leave that to others. Dieter Simon 21:56, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Did not think so until the following came up:

COWORD
Any consensus to approve submission to the Word Mint <wordmint@gmail.com> or Noteblog \neologisms

--Don Pedro de la Plancha y Verdura 09:27, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Languages and synonyms

Are words in different languages e.g. 'dog'(en), 'hund'(sv) and 'cane'(it) synonyms...?

--MatsN 08:25, 10 October 2006 (UTC))

No, synonyms have to be in the same language (they have to have an equivalent meaning with words in the same language) as they are used by people speaking the same language. Few people speak all of the languages you quoted, to be able to recognise the words (or any others)as synonyms. Dieter Simon 22:49, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

so you mean to till me if i l said baby it will mean ifant how do you know that the baby is a ifant just by saying that in other words the baby does not look like a infant —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.185.100.247 (talk) 22:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

What do you mean that the baby does not look like an infant?

From Meriam-Webster:
infant  
1 : a child in the first period of life 
2 : a person who is not of full age : minor

The first definition looks like a baby to me. --190.225.26.159 (talk) 17:35, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Synonymy

Shouldn't this redirect here as well? Synonymy can be used to describe sentences with the same meaning, for example. Richard001 (talk) 08:00, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes synonym

Is there a term to describe a word that is sometimes a synonym of a particular word and sometimes not? For example "pupil" is sometimes a synonym for student, but other times not because it can also mean part of the eye. It depends on the context where it's being used. In contrast, automobile is always a synonym for car. Is there a term to distinguish these two types of synonyms from each other? Jadabocho (talk) 05:24, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

What you mean, Jadabocho, is a homonym, a word which shares the same spelling and the same pronunciation but has a different meaning. Dieter Simon (talk) 01:08, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, but I'm talking about the relation to the other word. Pupil is a WHAT of student? Automobile is a WHAT of car? Pupil is SOMETIMES synonym of student. Othertimes it not used as a synonym of student, but to indicate a part of the eye. Automobile is ALWAYS a synonym of car. See the difference? Seems like in linguistics, there would be two terms to name the two different types of synonyms - to distinguish between a word that is sometimes a synonym from a term that is always a synonym. Is there? Jadabocho (talk) 02:03, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Well, the short answer really lies in the fact that they are not synonyms. Logically, they cannot be synonyms, as in no way can a pupil of the eye and the pupil at school have the same or even a similar meaning although they are spelled the same and pronounced the same. It is just total coincidence that they are termed so appear the same and though both terms have the same Latin origin they diverged long ago etymologically. So, I am afraid, you only call them homonyms. Dieter Simon (talk) 01:11, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

A synonym always has the same or similar meaning as another word. Dieter Simon (talk) 01:42, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm not saying "pupil" (student) and "pupil" (part of the eye) are synonyms. I'm saying the word "pupil" is sometimes a synonym of the word "student." The word "automobile" is always a synonym of the word "car." So, is there a term to distinguish a word that is sometimes a synonym of another particular word and sometimes not, from a word that is always a synonym of a particular word? Or would you just have to say "Pupil is sometimes a synonym of student"? Jadabocho (talk) 01:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

Virtually all synonyms are "sometimes not" because rarely, if ever, do two words have every possible meaning/usage of the words the same. Using your example: the word "automobile" is not "always" a synonym of the word "car" because when "car" is used to mean "part of a train (e.g.: the dining car)", it is not synonymous with the meaning of "automobile" as a stand-alone, self-powered vehicle. Words are just symbols, the meanings of which are constantly subject to change. It is the concept behind the symbols which have the ability to be synonymous. So the most precise definition of "synonym" is, IMO: "a word with at least one meaning the same or very similar to at least one meaning of a different word." 71.154.253.96 (talk) 12:54, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

'With' or 'to'?

Which is more grammatically correct? "Synonymous with.." or "synonymous to.."? I think "to" but I have seen "with" used, perhaps erroneously though. 193.132.145.151 (talk) 16:52, 28 May 2009 (UTC) Both are correct. Leostaley (talk) 05:11, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Possible Errors in Article?

I don't believe the link at the bottom:

  "Free Online English Thesaurus and Dictionary"

points to the correct address (maybe it has been 'hijacked'?) Shouldn't it point to thefreedictionary.com? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.125.239.42 (talk) 12:01, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Blurred distinctions

What do you call the use of a word like UFO (literally, "unidentified flying object") which means one thing in a general sense, but you're using it in a particular sense (i.e., "flying saucer from outer space]]"?

I see a lot of these. Some are innocent (or easy to figure out in context), while others look polemical and partisan.

For example, the word "homophobic" is used in two senses:

1. general: any opposition to homosexuality, including scientific or religious
2. specific: "crazy" (i.e., phobic) opposition

The two uses are completely different, and it seems (to me at least but I'm not doing WP:OR and will abandon this thread if there no verifiable sources out there saying the same thing) - it seems that a major effect of using homophobic when you mean "opposed to homosexuality is to imply that all opposition to homosexuality is crazy.

Now, what I'm asking here is whether UFO vs. alien spaceship and "homophobia" (irrational vs. principled) are the only two cases of synonyms in this category, or whether linguists and philologists know of dozens or even hundreds of such cases. If it's the latter, I'd like to know what it's called, and even to have an article on that topic. --Uncle Ed (talk) 16:16, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

No source or references

This article was created in 2002 with an astounding 555 editors and no source or references. Otr500 (talk) 04:20, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Homonym definition under related terms

I am new so don't bite me again Velella. Just pointing out that Homonyms sound the same "AND" are spelled the same. This page states "OR". I don't know how to cite, please see the table and Venn diagram at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym#Related_terms Talkjohn (talk) 01:27, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Article Errors/Critique

This article looks to have a few different errors in it that make the information questionable. One specific problem is the lack of citation and sources that the article has. Only the first paragraph has a citation on it, as well as the picture, and a quote that was taken from a another source. The article needs more sources to back up the information provided on the page otherwise it seems as if the information comes just from the editor of the page, which can make the information appear to be bias from lack of sources. Some other things that I found were that even though all the links work on the page, the information that comes up from some of those links does not have a lot of information on them and one specific link on the "External links" ("how to say") takes you to something that does not relate to the topic. A few other errors were the citation of the picture provided on the page did not appear to be cited appropriately, as well as links for some words but not links for others, and the organization of the page. The page is not clearly organized to fully explain the topic at hand and could include some bullet points as well as different types of synonyms.Bre'miller (talk) 20:00, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

"Another Word" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Another Word and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 January 14#Another Word until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Plantdrew (talk) 18:45, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Euphemisms

First, I missed the use of the term in the lexicography section because I wasn't - I thought - interested in its lexicography, narrowly defined. Three sugestions: 1.Rename the lexicography section. I have an above average English vocabulary, but I didn't grasp that that section referred to the MEANING of the word. I'd suggest "Linguistics" is a better title. 2. Add euphemism to the lead and 3. Correct the FALSE and misleading (irrelevant?) claim that "Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms." Euphemisms are, by definition, synonyms (or synonymous terms) and whether they are somehow derived from synonyms is - as far as I can see - completely irrelevant. (Not to mention an extreme stretch. I puzzled over it, and can't really come up with a synonym-as-euphemism-source, even though there likely are some floating around out there. But the point that is missed is that euphemisms ARE (a type of) synonym. Why not just say that??)98.17.44.45 (talk) 12:38, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Linguistics in the Digital Age

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 11 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Dkim2705 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Fedfed2 (talk) 00:53, 9 December 2023 (UTC)