synonyme

Forms

synonyme (plural synonymes)^[1] Older spellings sinonime (12th century, then about 1380, still in Richelet in 1680), synonime (1425) and sinonyme (1596).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin synonymus (“synonymous”), the grammarians' Late Latin adjective, and its neuter noun synonymum (“a synonym”).^[3][2][4] The Latin words render Ancient Greek συνώνυμος (sunṓnumos, “having the same name”), formed from σύν (sún, “with, together”) and ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).^[2][5][1] In Aristotle's logic the notion applied to names whose senses are bound by a common genus but which differ in their specific differences.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 13th century the plural Sinonimes names Isidore of Seville's moral work Synonymorum libri, a use that Rey and the GLLF date to the 12th century.^[3][2][7] The adjective appears about 1380 in the Aalma glossary, and the noun in Rabelais's Gargantua (1534).^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century a synonym was still a word sharing a general sense with another but having different meanings, in the Aristotelian way.^[2] From the classical period, and especially from the 18th century, the idea moved towards the modern one of a word with the same meaning as another, though differing in connotation or expressive force.^[2] The plural named a book collecting and distinguishing synonyms (1741), and in the 19th century être synonyme de came to mean “to evoke an equivalent notion”.^[2][8]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Sinonimes names Isidore's Synonymorum libri.^[3]
• c. 1380 – Adjective in the Aalma glossary.^[3][7]
• 1534 – Noun in Rabelais's Gargantua.^[3]
• 1582 – Synonymie is borrowed from Late Latin.^[4][2]
• 1741 – The plural names a dictionary of synonyms.^[2]
• 1801 – The derivative synonymique appears.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. synonymous: having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word: « Péril » et « danger » sont synonymes.^[8][5]
2. Être synonyme de: to stand for, to amount to: Pour lui, vacances est synonyme d'ennui.^[8][2]

Noun

1. A synonym, a word or expression with the same or nearly the same meaning as another.^[8][3]
2. (biology) A different name for the same taxon.^[5]

Word family

• synonymique

Related words

• synonymie
• antonyme
• homonyme

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert