semantics

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sémantique,^[2][3][4] which Etymonline says Michel Bréal applied in 1883 to the psychology of language,^[2] and which Klein calls Bréal's coinage, from his “Essai de sémantique”.^[3] The OED treats the English word as formed from Greek with the suffix -ics, the linguistic sense following the French.^[5] The French word is from Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós, “significant”),^[2][3][4][5] from σημαντός (sēmantós, “marked”),^[5][6] from σημαίνειν (sēmaínein, “to show by a sign, signify”), from σῆμα (sêma, “sign, mark”).^[5][3][2] Etymonline traces the Greek noun to Proto-Indo-European *dheie- (“to see, look”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The meaning of signs, and the study of it: 1874, in the North American Review.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a branch of linguistics or philosophy that studies meaning is recorded from 1886, in a translation of Arsène Darmesteter's Life of Words,^[5] and Etymonline dates it to 1893;^[2] in this sense it replaced the older term semasiology, from German.^[2] Merriam-Webster describes the early study as the history and classification of changes in meaning, such as specialization and expansion of meaning.^[4] From 1908 the word also meant the meanings themselves of a language, word or construction;^[5] since 1920, mostly with disapproval, the choice of words for euphemistic or slanted purposes, or a quibble over words.^[5] In computing it has meant, since 1964, the meaning of the strings of a programming language, as opposed to their syntax.^[5]

Timeline

• 1874 – the meaning of signs and its study.^[5][4]
• 1886 – the branch of linguistics concerned with meaning.^[5]
• 1893 – Etymonline's first date for the linguistic sense.^[2]
• 1908 – the system of meanings in a language or word.^[5]
• 1920 – disparagingly, the use of words for euphemistic or tendentious ends.^[5]
• 1964 – in computing, the meaning of strings in a programming language.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The branch of linguistics that studies meaning, including how meanings change and how words and sentences relate to what they mean.^[7][4][5]
2. The study of the relations between signs and symbols and what they stand for, as in semiotics or logic.^[7][4][5]
3. The meaning or set of meanings of a word, sentence or text: The two clauses have different semantics.^[5]
4. Often disparaging, the choice of words for their effect, or a quibble over the meaning of words: Whether it is a tax or a levy is just semantics.^[5]
5. In computing, the meaning of the statements of a programming language, as opposed to their syntax.^[5]

Word family

• general semantics

Related words

• semantic
• semasiology
• sematic
• seme
• sememe
• semiotic
• semiotics
• sema

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins