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Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn 'συν' = plus and onoma 'όνομα' = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. (Synonym and antonym are antonyms.)
An example of synonyms are the words cat and feline. Each describes any member of the family Felidae. 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 nouns, adverbs or adjectives, as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech.
More examples of English synonyms:
- baby and infant
- student and pupil
- pretty and attractive
- smart and intelligent
- sick and ill
- funny and humorous
- died and expired
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.
Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, ambiguous meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. However, many people feel that the synonyms they use are identical in meaning for all practical purposes. Different words similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline is more formal than cat; long and extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others, such as a long arm and an extended arm. Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms.
The purpose of a thesaurus is to offer the user a listing of similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms. In a way, hyponyms are similar to synonyms.
In contrast, antonyms (an opposite pair) would be:
- 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)
- tremendous and awful (compare to synonyms: tremendous and remarkable)
In scientific classification
In scientific classification, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example two name for the same species. The rule of scientific nomenclature is that the first name to be published is valid (the senior synonym); any others are junior synonyms and should not be used.
Synonyms are "objective" if they unambiguously refer to the same taxon; this is the case if they refer to the same description or the same type specimen. Otherwise the synonyms are "subjective", meaning that there is room for debate: one researcher might consider the two names to refer to the same taxon, another might disagree.
For example, John Edward Gray published the name Antilocapra anteflexa in 1855 for a species of pronghorn, based on a pair of horns. However, it is now thought that his specimen was an unusual individual of the species Antilocapra americana published by George Ord in 1815. Ord's name thus takes priority, with Antilocapra anteflexa being a junior subjective synonym.
Objective synonyms are common at the level of genera, because two researchers may independently arrive at the conclusion that a species is sufficiently different from others in its genus that it needs to be given its own genus. Thus each names a new genus with the same type species; these are objective synonyms.
At the species level, subjective synonyms are common because an unexpectedly large range of variation in a species — or simple ignorance about an earlier description — may lead a biologist to place a newly discovered specimen in a new genus. However, objective synonyms are quite rare. An example is the tarpan (the European wild horse) which was described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1774. In 1784 Pieter Boddaert named the tarpan Equus ferus, referring to Gmelin's description. Unaware of Boddaert's name, Otto Antonius published the name Equus gmelini in 1912, again referring to Gmelin's description. Since the two names refer to the same description, they are objective synonyms.
See also
- Homonyms, words that sound alike, or are spelled alike, but mean different things, such as too and two; there and their; or fluke (of luck) and fluke (of a whale).
- -onym
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