synonym

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪn.əˌnɪm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sinonyme, borrowed from Middle French synonyme,^[2][3][4] and directly from Latin synōnymum,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek συνώνυμον (sunṓnumon, “word with the same sense”), the neuter of sunṓnumos “having the same name”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “together, same”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”), the latter an Aeolic form of ónoma.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A word having the same sense as another in the same language (1432–50 in the OED; before 1425 in Barnhart, as the plural sinonymes).^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century the word was usually used in the plural, synonymes or synonyma, and the modern singular rarely appears before the end of that century except in dictionaries.^[3][4] From 1631 it also meant a name or expression that implies or stands for something else, as when a person's name becomes a synonym for a quality.^[7][5] In natural history a synonym is a scientific name applied to the same taxon as another (1659).^[7][2]

Timeline

• before 1425 – sinonymes, synonyms (Barnhart).^[3]
• 1432–50 – a word with the same sense (OED).^[7]
• 1610 – synonymous.^[3]
• 1631 – a name standing for a quality or idea.^[7]
• 1659 – a scientific name of the same taxon.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A word or expression with the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the same language, as glad and joyful.
2. A word or name that by association stands for something, as in a name that became a synonym for oppression; a metonym.
3. (biology) One of two or more scientific names for the same taxon, especially a superseded one.

Word family

• synonymic
• synonymity
• synonymous
• synonymy

Related words

• antonym
• homonym
• name

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press