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Synonyms (in ancient Greek , ''συν'' ("''syn''") = ''plus'' and ''όνομα'' ("''onoma''") = ''name'') are different words with identical or at least similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be '''synonymous''', and the state of being a synonym is called '''synonymy'''.

An example of synonyms are the words ''car'' and ''automobile''. Similarly, if we talk about a ''long time'' or an ''extended time'', ''long'' and ''extended'' become synonyms. In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation:

:"a widespread impression that … Hollywood was synonymous with immorality" (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

Synonyms can be any Part Of Speech (e.g. Noun s, Verbs , Adjective s, Adverb s or Preposition s), as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech. More examples of English synonyms are:

  • ''baby'' and ''infant'' (noun)

  • ''student'' and ''pupil'' (noun)

  • ''buy'' and ''purchase'' (verb)

  • ''pretty'' and ''attractive'' (adjective)

  • ''sick'' and ''ill'' (adjective)

  • ''quickly'' and ''speedily'' (adverb)

  • ''on'' and ''upon'' (preposition)


Note that the synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words; for instance, ''pupil'' as the ''"aperture in the iris of the eye"'' is not synonymous with ''student''. Similarly, ''expired'' as ''"having lost validity"'' (as in grocery goods) doesn't necessarily mean death.

In English many synonyms evolved from a mixture of Norman French and English words, often with some words associated with the Saxon countryside (''"folk"'', ''"freedom"'') and synonyms with the Norman nobility (''"people"'', ''"liberty"'').

Some s.

The purpose of a Thesaurus is to offer the user a listing of similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms.


RELATED TERMS

Antonym s are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. For example:

  • ''dead'' and ''alive'' (compare to synonyms: ''dead'' and ''deceased'')

  • ''near'' and ''far'' (compare to synonyms: ''near'' and ''close'')

  • ''war'' and ''peace'' (compare to synonyms: ''war'' and ''armed conflict'')


The words ''synonym'' and ''antonym'' are themselves antonyms.

Hypernym s and ''' Hyponym s''' are words that refer to, respectively, a general category and a specific instance of that category. For example, ''vehicle'' is a hypernym of ''car'', and ''car'' is a hyponym of ''vehicle''.


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