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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

polysemous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /ˌpɒl.ɪˈsiː.məs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio
  • /pəˈlɪs.ɪ.məs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio
  • /pəˈlɪs.ə.məs/ (US)
  • /ˌpɑːl.iˈsiː.məs/ (US)

Etymology

From Medieval Latin polysēmus, from Ancient Greek πολύσημος (polúsēmos), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “I signify, mean”).

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable, rhetoric) Synonym of polysemic.
    • But just how are the meanings associated with a polysemous word related? A look at the entries for polysemous words in different dictionaries shows that lexicographers cannot agree on how to divide up the semantic space […] 2000, Yael Ravin, Claudia Leacock, Polysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches, Oxford: OUP, →ISBN, page 52:

Deriveds

polysemously · polysemousness · nonpolysemous

Relateds

bisemous · polysemy

Synonyms

polysemic

Translations (26)

fr polysémique (having multiple meanings) · pl wieloznaczny (having multiple meanings) · es polisémico (having multiple meanings) · hu többjelentésű (having multiple meanings) · fi monimerkityksinen (having multiple meanings) · es polisemántico (having multiple meanings) · de mehrdeutig (having multiple meanings) · cmn 多義 /多义 (having multiple meanings) · pt polissêmico (having multiple meanings) · ca polisèmic (having multiple meanings) · ru многозна́чный (having multiple meanings) · cy amlystyrol (having multiple meanings) · bg многозна́чен (having multiple meanings) · nl veelduidig (having multiple meanings) · no polysemantisk (having multiple meanings) · pt polissémico (having multiple meanings) · nl meerduidig (having multiple meanings) · pl polisemiczny (having multiple meanings) · no flertydig (having multiple meanings) · cs polysémický (having multiple meanings) · hu poliszém (having multiple meanings) · nl polyseem (having multiple meanings) · no mangetydig (having multiple meanings) · el πολύσημος (having multiple meanings) · is margrætt orð (having multiple meanings) · fa پرمعنا (having multiple meanings)