This page gathers the 82 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Semantics”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples.
- absent referent noun The condition of a sign which has an empty, absent, non-existent, paradoxical, hypothetical, supernatural, or undefined referent, such as…
- accomplishment noun The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change over time until a natural end point.
- achievement noun The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change in an instant.
- activity noun The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change over time and have no natural end point.
- antonym noun A word which has the opposite meaning of another word.
- autohyponymy noun The quality or state of being an autohyponym; the semantic relation between a sense of a term (word) with another sense of the same term.
- automeronymy noun The quality or state of being an automeronym; the semantic relation between senses of a word such that one sense is meronymous to another.
- by extension prep_phrase In the broad sense; broadly.
- coding time noun The moment in time of an utterance or the writing of a message.
- coercion noun The process by which the meaning of a word or other linguistic element is reinterpreted to match the grammatical context.
- cohyponymy noun The semantic relation between cohyponyms (coordinate terms); the quality of being cohyponymous (coordinate).
- coinstance noun A fellow instance (of a theme, concept, etc), which may be a discrete (separate) one or a coinstantiation.
- comeronym noun A word or phrase that shares a holonym with another word or phrase, naming a part of the same whole.
- comeronymy noun The semantic relation between comeronyms (names for parts of a whole); the quality of being comeronymous.
- complementarity noun A semantic relationship between two words wherein negative use of one entails the affirmative of the other with no gradability; the…
- complementary antonym noun A term whose meaning is the complement of another term, in an either-or fashion, such as mortal in relation to immortal.
- conceptual definition noun A definition in terms of concepts, instead of in terms of the results of measuring procedures or exemplification alone.
- connotation noun A meaning of a word or phrase that is suggested or implied, as opposed to a denotation, or literal meaning. A characteristic of words or…
- content-free adj Of a message, adding nothing to the recipient's knowledge.
- converse noun One of a pair of terms that name or describe a relationship from opposite perspectives; converse antonym; relational antonym.
- converse antonym noun Either of a pair of terms that name or describe a single relationship from opposite perspectives, such as parent versus child.
- coordinate term noun A term (word or noun phrase) that shares a hypernym (or hypernymic noun phrase) with another: that is, one that names another type (kind)…
- definiendum noun The term (word or phrase) defined in a definition (whether inside a sentence, as a dictionary entry, or otherwise).
- definition noun A statement of the meaning of a word, word group, sign, or symbol; especially, a dictionary definition.
- denotation noun Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol
- donkey anaphora noun A phenomenon where a pronoun is semantically bound by an indefinite noun phrase in a quantificational context, but not syntactically.
- endonymy noun A relationship of semantic inclusion, such as that between "store" and "shopping mall".
- exocentric adj Not having the same semantic referent as the semantic referent of any of its constituent parts.
- extension noun Capacity of a concept or general term to include a greater or smaller number of objects; — correlative of intension.
- extensional definition noun A definition of a term that specifies its extension, that is, every object that falls under the definition.
- fix verb To map (a point or subset) to itself.
- force noun Ability of an utterance or its element (word, form, prosody, ...) to effect a given meaning.
- free indirect speech noun The literary device of writing a character's first-person thoughts in the voice of the third-person narrator.
- genus noun Within a definition, a broader category of the defined concept.
- gradable antonym noun One of a pair of terms that denotes one end of a scale while the other term denotes the other end, such as long and short.
- grammatical aspect noun The aspect of a verb phrase (verb group) or other predicate – its temporal structure or relationship to the time of use – marked through…
- holonymy noun A semantic relation that exists between a term denoting a whole (the holonym) and a term denoting a part that pertains to the whole (the…
- homonym noun A word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word.
- homophone noun A word which is pronounced the same as another word but differs in spelling or meaning or origin.
- homophonous adj Having the same pronunciation.
- homophony noun The quality of being homophonous.
- hypernym noun A superordinate word or phrase; a term whose referents form a set which includes as a subset the referents of a subordinate term—as, for…
- hyponym noun A more specific term; a subordinate grouping word or phrase; a term designating a subclass of another more general class described by the…
- inferentialist adj Of, pertaining to or supporting a belief in the primary importance of inference to any account of meaning
- intension noun Any property or quality connoted by a word, phrase or other symbol, contrasted with actual instances in the real world to which the term…
- intensional definition noun A definition that gives the meaning of a term by specifying all the properties of the things to which the term applies.
- intensionalism noun The belief that language acquires meaning from thought or belief, which is fundamentally non-linguistic, and that propositions are…
- lexical item noun A term (that is, a word or sequence of words) that acts as a unit of meaning, including words, phrases, phrasal verbs, and proverbs.
- lexical unit noun A pairing of a word or phrase with one of its meanings.
- monoseme noun A monosemous term; a term with one meaning.
- monosemy noun The property of terms of having a single meaning; absence of ambiguity.
- near-antonym noun A word that is nearly an antonym, when an antonym is defined strictly by complete negation or polar oppositeness. (Many reference works use…
- nominative determinism noun A supposed tendency for people to become active in subjects that relate or correspond to their names.
- non-Aristotelian adj Not unduly beholden to Aristotelian tendencies of thought (Aristotelianism), although respectful of them and aiming to extend beyond them…
- occurrence noun The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change in or over time.
- ostensive definition noun A process of binding the meaning to the defined term by pointing out examples and counterexamples: definition by exemplification.
- paronym noun A word derived from the same root or stem as another word; classes include cognates and naturalizations of foreign words.
- paronymous adj Having the same root or derivation; conjugate.
- polyseme noun One whose multiple meanings are etymologically related.
- polysemy noun The quality characteristic of a polyseme, a sign (such as a word or symbol) that has multiple meanings (senses), often including multiple…
- predicand noun The referent of the phrase of which another constituent (the predicate) is predicated.
- propositionalism noun The view all intentionality is propositional; the belief that there can be no meaning without a proposition.
- prototype noun An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes.
- recursive definition noun A definition of a term within which the term itself appears, and that is well-founded, avoiding an infinite regress.
- reference noun A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.
- reference time noun The moment in time in which the speaker is using as the imagined or explicit reference point for an utterance.
- referent noun The specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes: what it refers to.
- relational antonym noun A term that, together with another term, forms a pair of opposite role names in a relationship, such as parent and child.
- sense noun A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries or definitions for a word in a dictionary.
- state noun The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.
- stipulative definition noun A definition in which a new or extant term is given a new meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context.
- subtrigging noun The phenomenon whereby free-choice items in episodic sentences require a modifier. For instance, "Any student signed the petition" is not…
- synonym noun A term (word or phrase) which is synonymous with others.
- synonymy noun A certain degree of similarity between the meaning(s) of several (synonymous) words or phrases. (See Usage notes below.)
- taxonym noun A hyponym that differs only by properties that are highlighted in the corresponding hypernym.
- term of endearment noun A word, phrase, or nickname used as a term of address expressing affection; it is often a diminutive.
- time-binding noun The act of transmitting knowledge and experience from one moment and person to other moments and people using written information (e.g.…
- toponymy noun Lexicological study of place names; a branch of onomastics.
- troponymy noun The semantic relation between troponyms
- unsane adj In a state of maladaptive mental functioning that is not insane (that is, not mentally ill, or at least not clinically so) but is also not…
- unsanity noun A state of maladaptive mental functioning that is not clinical insanity.
- word noun The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of…