synonymy

English

Etymology

From Latin synonymia, from Ancient Greek συνωνυμία (sunōnumía), from σύν (sún, “with”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪˈnɒnəmi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

synonymy (countable and uncountable, plural synonymies)

1. (semantics) The quality of being synonymous; sameness of meaning.

   Antonyms: nonsynonymy; antonymy

   Coordinate terms: antiphrasis; cohyponymy, coordination, coordinateness; parasynonymy, plesionymy; comeronymy; metonymy; synechdoche

2. A list or collection of synonyms, often compared and contrasted.
3. (rhetoric) The use of synonyms to clarify or explain one's meaning.
4. The study of synonyms.

   Synonym: synonymics

5. A system of synonyms.
6. (taxonomy) The state of not being the name to be used, of being a synonym.

   sink into synonymy

   In 1924 this name was reduced to synonymy.

   1. (taxonomy, by extension) A group or list of synonyms.

      The synonymy of Tachina is extensive.

      Descriptions are followed by a synonymy of the names that have been applied in the literature .

Synonyms

• (sameness of meaning): synonymity (10× less common than synonymy); synonymousness (600× less common than synonymy), homosemy (2000× less common than synonymy)
• (rhetorical device): interpretatio; interpreter (obsolete)

Antonyms

• antonymy

Related terms

• synonym
• synonymia

Translations

quality of being synonymous

• Bulgarian: еднозначност f (ednoznačnost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: synonymie f, synonymita f
• Finnish: synonymia (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• Georgian: სინონიმია (sinonimia)
• German: Synonymie (de) f
• Hungarian: szinonímia (hu), rokonértelműség (hu)
• Irish: comhchiallachas m
• Italian: sinonimia (it) f
• Latvian: sinonīmija f
• Polish: bliskoznaczność f, synonimia (pl) f, synonimiczność (pl) f
• Portuguese: sinonímia (pt) f
• Romanian: sinonimie (ro) f
• Russian: синони́мия (ru) f (sinonímija)
• Spanish: sinonimia f
• Swedish: synonymi (sv) c
• Volapük: leigasinif, otsinif
• Walloon: sinonimeye (wa) f

list or collection of synonyms

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: synonyymiluettelo
• French: please add this translation if you can

study of synonyms

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: synonymiikka (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: leigasinifav

system of synonyms

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: synonyymijärjestelmä
• French: please add this translation if you can

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

• French: synonymie (fr)