Appendix:English autological words
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
A word is autological or homological if it describes itself. Since adjectives are words that are designed to describe things, including words, most autological words are adjectives.
Other parts of speech may be autological: Nouns and Verbs can also be self-descriptive, though not in the same way that adjectives are; phrases may be autological, e.g., “three words long” is three words long; likewise acronyms may be, like TLA for “Three Letter Acronym”.
A word which is not autological is heterological, except the word “heterological” itself, which logically cannot be either – see the Grelling–Nelson paradox. The word “autological” itself may be taken, without contradiction, to be either autological or heterological – see Grelling–Nelson paradox#Autological.
The main list of autological words is Category:Autological words; below find discussions of words that are autological in certain contexts or require explanation.
Contents |
[edit] Adjectives
- adjectival
- descriptive
- complete
- mellifluous
- suave
- wee
- brief
- terse
- unhyphenated
- pentasyllabic
- polysyllabic
- hyphen-using
- 6-letter
- 7-letters
- 8-lettered
- ten-letters
- twelve-letter
- fourteen-letter
- fifteen-lettered
- sextadecaliteral
- seventeen-lettered
- common
- simple
- multisyllabic
- English
- used
- inanimate
- magniloquent
- fricative-initial
- sibilant-initial
- lateral-final
- liquid-final
- consonant-initial
- plosive-initial
- awkward
- sesquipedalian
[edit] Depending on context
- initial (In the present context)
- second (In the present context) (etc.)
- l33t
- autological (can be treated as autological or not, indifferently; see Grelling–Nelson paradox)
- black (and other colours, when the word is printed in those colours: red, blue, etc.)
- camouflaged (when camouflaged, as in: camouflaged )
- editable (in a wiki-based online encyclopedia)
- English (and its equivalent in other languages, such as "Español", when referring to the language)
- igpay atinlay
- ink (when written in ink)
- legible (often)
- linking (in an online encyclopedia)
- listed, when it is an item in a list
- mentioned (In the present context)
- obscurantist (when used to describe long, intelligent-sounding language; obfuscatory)
- olden (at present)
- pronounceable (for many people)
- redundant, when placed preceding tautologies
- self-referential (when applied to itself)
- slang (originally)
- spoken/written etc. (when spoken/written etc.)
- unsung/unwritten etc. (when not sung/written etc.)
- the name of any typeface (when written in that typeface)
- typed (In the present context)
- superfluous
- sibilant (when spoken by somebody without a lisp or other sibilant-affecting speech impediment)
- antepenultimate (In the present context)
- penultimate (In the present context)
- final (In the present context)
[edit] Nouns
[edit] Depending on context
- antonym (when discussing the word synonym)
- e-text (when stored in an electronic format)
- example (in present context)
- hyperlink (when it appears as a hyperlink)
- item (in a list)
- List item, when it is an item in a list
- name
- neologism (originally)
- spelling
- w:Film (actually not autological as a word, but it is as a name)
- symbol (when used in the Peircian sense)
[edit] Phrases
- Iambic Pentametric Poetry.
- Worth fifty-eight points in Scrabble.
- Worth fifty-seven points in Scrabble.
[edit] Other parts of speech
- verbify
- exist
- adverbially
- epexegetically (especially in this context)
