semantics

See also: semàntics

English

Etymology

From French sémantique, displacing earlier semasiology. From Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪˈmæntɪks/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

semantics (uncountable)

1. (linguistics) A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words. [1893]

   Semantics is a foundation of lexicography.

2. The study of the relationship between words and their meanings.
   • 2006, Patrick Blackburn, Johan Bos, and Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!‎^[1], section 8.1:

     In fact, nowadays a lot is known about the semantics of natural languages, and it is surprisingly easy to build semantic representations which partially capture the meaning of sentences or even entire discourses.

3. The individual meanings of words, as opposed to the overall meaning of a passage.

   The semantics of the terms used are debatable.

   The semantics of a single preposition is a dissertation in itself.

4. (computer science) The meaning of computer language constructs, in contrast to their form or syntax.

   file sharing and locking semantics

Derived terms

• algebraic semantics
• axiomatic semantics
• computational semantics
• denotational semantics
• formal semantics
• lexical semantics
• mathematical semantics
• operational semantics
• statistical semantics

 

Related terms

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

 

Translations

science of the meaning of words

• Afrikaans: semantiek
• Albanian: semantikë (sq) f
• Arabic: عِلْم اَلْمَعَانِي m (ʕilm al-maʕānī)
• Armenian: իմաստաբանություն (hy) (imastabanutʻyun)
• Catalan: semàntica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 語義學／语义学 (zh) (yǔyìxué), 语义学 (zh) (yǔyìxué)

• Czech: sémantika (cs) f
• Danish: semantik (da) c
• Dutch: semantiek (nl) f
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitysoppi (fi)
• French: sémantique (fr) f
• Georgian: სემანტიკა (semanṭiḳa)
• German: Bedeutungslehre (de), Semantik (de) f
• Hungarian: szemantika (hu)
• Indonesian: semantik (id)
• Japanese: 意味論 (いみろん, imiron)
• Khmer: និឃណ្ដសាស្ត្រ (ni’kʰoanda’sah)
• Korean: 의미론 (ko) (uimiron) (意味論 (ko))
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: watenasî (ku) f

• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Persian: علم معانی ('elm ma'âni), معنی‌شناسی (ma'ni-šenâsi)
• Polish: semantyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Romanian: semantică (ro) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Slovene: pomenoslovje (sl) n
• Spanish: semántica (es) f
• Swahili: semantiki
• Swedish: semantik (sv) c
• Tagalog: semantika, paladiwaan
• Turkish: anlambilim (tr)
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa học (vi)
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f, sinsyince (wa) f

study of the relationship between words and their meanings

• Danish: semantik (da) c, betydningslære c
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitysoppi (fi)
• Khmer: និឃណ្ដសាស្ត្រ (ni’kʰoanda’sah)
• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Swahili: semantiki
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa học (vi)
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f

individual meanings of words

• Danish: semantik (da) c
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitys (fi), merkityssisältö
• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Turkish: anlam (tr)
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f, sinifiance f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} semantiek (nl) f
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} דִּקְדּוּק m (dikdúk)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} semantica
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} semantica (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} semantika f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} semantikk (no) c
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} معنی‌شناسی (ma'ni-šenâsi)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} semantik (sv) c

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of semantics

Further reading

• “semantics”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• amnestics