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 Synonyms
(in ancient Greek syn 'συν' = plus and onoma 'όνομα' =
name) are different words with similar or identical
meanings. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly
opposite meanings.
(Synonym and antonym are antonyms.)
An example of synonyms are the words cat and feline.
Each describes any member of the family Felidae.
Similarly, if we talk about a long time or an extended
time, long and extended become synonyms.
In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be
synonymous if they have the same connotation:
"a widespread impression that ... Hollywood was synonymous
with immorality" (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Synonyms can be nouns, adverbs
or adjectives, as long as both members of the pair are the
same part of speech.
Scholastic Dictionary of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms
More examples of English synonyms:
baby and
infant
student and pupil
pretty and attractive
smart and intelligent
sick and ill
funny and humorous
died and expired
Note that the synonyms
are defined with respect to certain senses of words; for
instance, pupil as the "aperture in the iris of the eye"
is not synonymous with student. Similarly, expired as
"having lost validity" (as in
grocery goods) doesn't
necessarily mean death.
Some lexicographers
claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in
all contexts or social levels of language) because
etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, ambiguous
meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. However, many
people feel that the synonyms they use are identical in
meaning for all practical purposes. Different words
similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline
is more formal than cat; long and extended are only
synonyms in one usage and not in others, such as a long
arm and an extended arm. Synonyms are also a source of
euphemisms.
The purpose of a thesaurus is to offer the user a
listing of similar or related words; these are often,
but not always, synonyms. In a way,
Homonyms
are similar to synonyms.
In contrast,
antonyms (an opposite pair) would be:
dead and alive (compare to synonyms: dead and deceased)
near and far (compare to synonyms: near and close)
war and peace (compare to synonyms: war and armed
conflict) tremendous and awful (compare to synonyms:
tremendous and remarkable)
In linguistics,
a hyponym
is a word or phrase whose semantic range is included
within that of another word. For example, scarlet,
vermilion, carmine, and crimson are all hyponyms
of red (their hypernym), which is, in turn, a
hyponym of color....
In 1843, after Noah Webster's
death, George and Charles Merriam secured publishing and
revision rights to the 1840 edition of the dictionary. They
published a modest revision in 1847, and a second update
with illustrations in 1859. In 1864, Merriam published a
much expanded edition, largely overhauling Noah Webster's
work, yet retaining Webster's title, "An American
Dictionary." This began a series of revisions known as
"Unabridged," which became increasingly more "Merriam" than
"Webster."
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