polysemous
adjUK /pəˈlɪs.ɪ.məs/ · US /ˌpɑːl.iˈsiː.məs/
Etymology From Medieval Latin polysēmus, from Ancient Greek πολύσημος (polúsēmos), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “I signify, mean”).
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Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences 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:
- Derived terms
- nonpolysemous, polysemously, polysemousness