polysemy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma)lbor. English seme English polyseme Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Old French -ieder. Middle English -ie Middle English -y English -y English polysemy From polyseme + -y.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) The quality characteristic of a polyseme, a sign (such as a word or symbol) that has multiple meanings (senses), often including multiple similar ones.
Fifty years ago the linguist and semanticist Stephen Ullmann wrote that polysemy, the fact that some words have a network of multiple but related meanings, is "the pivot of semantic analysis" […]
2011, Brigitte Nerlich, Polysemy: Flexible Patterns of Meaning in Mind and Language, page 3:Polysemy proliferates in natural language: Virtually every word is polysemous to some extent.
2017 July 27, Agustín Vicente and Ingrid L. Falkum, “Polysemy”, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford University Press:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| polysemies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Coordinates
Hypernyms
Relateds
polysemous · polysemously · lexical ambiguity · ambiguity · polysemic · homonymy
Translations (64)
cy amlystyredd (ability to have multiple meanings) · be полісемія (ability to have multiple meanings) · sv polysemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · fi monimerkityksisyys (ability to have multiple meanings) · el πολυσημία (ability to have multiple meanings) · fi polysemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · gl polisemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · uk багатозначність (ability to have multiple meanings) · br liessteriegezh (ability to have multiple meanings) · fr polysémie (ability to have multiple meanings) · pl wieloznaczność (ability to have multiple meanings) · ky полисемия (ability to have multiple meanings) · ko 다의성 (ability to have multiple meanings) · ru многозна́чность (ability to have multiple meanings) · eo polisemio (ability to have multiple meanings) · uz полисемия (ability to have multiple meanings) · az polisemiya (ability to have multiple meanings) · sl večpomenskost (ability to have multiple meanings) · es polisemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · sl polisemija (ability to have multiple meanings) · sk mnohoznačnosť (ability to have multiple meanings) · ja 多義性 (ability to have multiple meanings) · ca polisèmia (ability to have multiple meanings) · uz polisemiya (ability to have multiple meanings) · nb polysemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · id polisemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · sh polisèmija (ability to have multiple meanings) · tr çokanlamlılık (ability to have multiple meanings) · de Mehrdeutigkeit (ability to have multiple meanings) · pl polisemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · io polisemio (ability to have multiple meanings) · cs polysémie (ability to have multiple meanings) · eu polisemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · hy բազմիմաստություն (ability to have multiple meanings) · nl polysemie (ability to have multiple meanings) · uk полісемія (ability to have multiple meanings) · sh полисѐмија (ability to have multiple meanings) · cmn 一詞多義 /一词多义 (ability to have multiple meanings) · cmn 多義性 /多义性 (ability to have multiple meanings) · de Polysemie (ability to have multiple meanings) · lt polisemija (ability to have multiple meanings) · ru полисеми́я (ability to have multiple meanings) · hu poliszémia (ability to have multiple meanings) · crh çoqmanalılıq (ability to have multiple meanings) · bg полисемия (ability to have multiple meanings) · kk полисемия (ability to have multiple meanings) · yue 多義性 /多义性 (ability to have multiple meanings) · ga ilchiallachas (ability to have multiple meanings) · lv polisēmija (ability to have multiple meanings) · az полисемия (ability to have multiple meanings) · da polysemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · sq polisemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · it polisemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · fa چندمعنایی (ability to have multiple meanings) · sk polysémia (ability to have multiple meanings) · ro polisemie (ability to have multiple meanings) · ka პოლისემია (ability to have multiple meanings) · ka მრავალმნიშვენლიანობა (ability to have multiple meanings) · ar تَعَدُّدُ مَعَانٍ (ability to have multiple meanings) · nn polysemi (ability to have multiple meanings) · dsb polysemija (ability to have multiple meanings) · hsb polysemija (ability to have multiple meanings) · pt polissemia (ability to have multiple meanings) · mk полисемија (ability to have multiple meanings)