Post by t-bob on Apr 9, 2019 10:04:07 GMT -5
POLYESTER Polygamy
POLYSEMY
noun
1. a condition in which a single word, phrase, or concept has more than one meaning or connotation.
Quotes
Twenty-three alternate meanings for it are listed in English alone—it is, the editors say, a model of "polysemy," packing multiple meanings into a single sign ... . -- Adam Gopnik, "Word Magic," The New Yorker, May 26, 2014 This rich polysemy of language is the basis for William Empson's first type of poetic ambiguity: "when a detail is effective in several ways at once." -- C. Namwali Serpell, Seven Modes of Uncertainty, 2014
Origin
Fast can mean "moving quickly" or "firmly fixed." The word shows polysemy, which ultimately derives from Greek polýsēmos "having many meanings." Polýsēmos joins polýs "many, much," and sêma "sign, mark, token." Polýs yields the combining form poly-, seen in many English words, such as polygon "many angles" or polytheism "many gods." Sêma produces another term used, like polysemy, in linguistics: semantics "the study of meaning." In linguistics, polysemy and semantics were modeled on French polysémie and sémantique. These words were formed in the late 19th century by French linguist Michel Bréal (1832–1915)—a man perhaps better remembered for inspiring the modern Olympic marathon in 1896. Polysemy entered English in the 1920s
POLYSEMY
noun
1. a condition in which a single word, phrase, or concept has more than one meaning or connotation.
Quotes
Twenty-three alternate meanings for it are listed in English alone—it is, the editors say, a model of "polysemy," packing multiple meanings into a single sign ... . -- Adam Gopnik, "Word Magic," The New Yorker, May 26, 2014 This rich polysemy of language is the basis for William Empson's first type of poetic ambiguity: "when a detail is effective in several ways at once." -- C. Namwali Serpell, Seven Modes of Uncertainty, 2014
Origin
Fast can mean "moving quickly" or "firmly fixed." The word shows polysemy, which ultimately derives from Greek polýsēmos "having many meanings." Polýsēmos joins polýs "many, much," and sêma "sign, mark, token." Polýs yields the combining form poly-, seen in many English words, such as polygon "many angles" or polytheism "many gods." Sêma produces another term used, like polysemy, in linguistics: semantics "the study of meaning." In linguistics, polysemy and semantics were modeled on French polysémie and sémantique. These words were formed in the late 19th century by French linguist Michel Bréal (1832–1915)—a man perhaps better remembered for inspiring the modern Olympic marathon in 1896. Polysemy entered English in the 1920s
