When you’re looking for a word to describe something that is similar but different, you might not be too sure of the right one to use. This article will look into the best synonyms for such a case, so you’ll have an easier time figuring them out in the future.
Which Words Can Describe Something That Is Similar But Different?
There are some good words to describe something similar but not the same. Some of the best include:
- Tantamount
- Similar
- Akin
- Related
- Virtual
The preferred version is “tantamount” because it offers the closest meaning to what we’re looking for with the description. When you want to talk about something that is not quite the same thing but similar enough, “tantamount” is usually the answer.
Tantamount
Let’s start with “tantamount,” which is by far the best choice on this list for talking about two or more things that are almost identical but differ in certain ways.
“Tantamount” is the word we use when we want to talk about two things being almost identical. However, there is a crucial difference between the things, which notably comes down to a negative quality.
The definition of “tantamount,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “being almost the same or having the same effect as something, usually something bad.”
“Tantamount” is ideal when talking about things that don’t quite work in the same way, even if that was their intention. Sometimes, people won’t realize that something they’ve done or created is tantamount to another thing, and it’ll take another pair of eyes to point this out.
We typically use the preposition “to” after “tantamount,” which shows that two or more things are similar to each other. “Tantamount to” is the most common grammatical structure that you’ll come across.
“Tantamount” works best in negative situations, and you can see that in the following ways:
- Your obedience is tantamount to us finding where you hid your treasures all those years ago.
- This idea is tantamount to bringing forth the destruction of everything that I’ve worked for.
- Your idiocy is tantamount to what happened in those darker times of history. The times that everyone wished they could forget.
- This error is tantamount to everything that we pushed aside to pave the way for the new world.
While sometimes describing a phrase with itself isn’t ideal, in this case, “similar” is a great word to use. Similar things are, by nature, different in some way to their partners, which is why it belongs on this list.
“Similar” means that two things are not quite the same, and there is usually a subtle difference. That subtle difference is notable, and it’s not something that you can miss, even if most people choose to overlook it.
The definition of “similar,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “looking or being almost, but not exactly, the same.”
When we’re talking about things that are similar or have similarities, we often try to look at how close they are to each other. We don’t want to focus too much on what makes them different because that isn’t the same.
Instead, it helps to look at what brings them together. It allows us to use “similar” in a more positive sense than “tantamount,” which is ideal when the context of the sentence calls for something a little less harsh.
“Similar” is a great choice, especially when thinking about situations that aren’t strictly negative in some way. These examples demonstrate its usage:
- Our theories are far too similar. You have to change yours before there’s too vast of a conflict in our findings.
- These ideas are similar in theory, but they’re completely opposite to each other in practice.
- We’ve come up with something similar to what’s already in motion. All this will do is streamline our processes.
- You think these two things are similar, but I don’t see any similarities that are worth noting!
Akin
“Akin” is a great word that’s similar to what we’re looking for here. It’s not as common anymore, but it’s still used when it counts.
We can use “akin” in the same way as “similar.” It means that two or more things have much of the same qualities, even if they’re not completely identical. We use “akin” to compare two things, especially to do with ideas or thoughts about certain qualities in life.
The definition of “akin,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “having some of the same qualities.”
When talking about different but similar things, “akin” is up there with some of the best choices. The only reason we didn’t place it higher is that it’s an old-fashioned word that rarely sees common usage today.
In fact, most native speakers try to avoid it for the easier “similar” variation.
More people have heard words like “similar” (or even tantamount), and “akin” seems like something that a Shakespearian scholar might come up with in their prose. Of course, this isn’t the case, and you’re more than welcome to use it whenever you feel the need to.
We might see “akin” work as follows:
- The language they speak is akin to something you might hear from a Tolkien novel.
- Our ideas are akin, which makes it all the more difficult to shut yours down!
- His thought processes are akin to the way I like to view the world, and I think that’s why we’re so perfect for each other.
- Your mannerisms are akin to something out of The Jungle Book. I don’t know which character best describes you, though.
Related
“Related” struggles to keep up with some of the other choices, but you can still find a wide variety of uses for it when looking for things that are similar yet different.
We can use “related” in a specific way when two things are connected or influenced by each other. It doesn’t have to rely on a familial relationship, and we can instead talk about two or more things that work in a very similar fashion to each other.
The definition of “related,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “connected to, influenced by, or caused by something.”
While it might not be the best synonym for this situation, it still has plenty of uses that mean the same thing as what we’re looking for.
“Related” refers to a connection between a group of things. That means that those things influence each other in some way, whether that was the original intention of them or not.
When things are “related” in this manner, we can talk about how close they are in qualities. We can also look at what makes them different in certain ways and pick up on those traits to help people work out why we’re only dealing with “similar” things and not “identical” things.
“Related” might work as follows:
- These ideas are too closely related to each other. You’ve got to come up with something different.
- This is related to the things that you spoke about yesterday, and I think I know what you’re about to say.
- We are all related in the way we think and share our ideas.
- It’s easier to find something that relates to your method of thinking, which sets us up for better discussions in the future.
Virtual
“Virtual” is the last word we’ll go through. It’s great to use when trying to think of something almost identical to another thing but has something stopping it from being completely the same.
“Virtual” is a word that seems to be more popular in modern days, especially with the global rise of virtual reality. It means that something is almost identical to the thing it’s recreating, but there are certain obvious tells that show us otherwise.
The definition of “virtual,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “almost a particular thing or quality.”
Since most “virtual” things are computerized or have some kind of programming requirement, it’s obvious what the difference will be.
For example, if we talk about the real world and the “virtual world,” we refer to the world we live in and a world that is made up of computers. While the concept is the same, the “virtual” world isn’t quite the same as the real world, as we won’t be able to live in it.
We can also use “virtual” as an adjective or adverb to describe something. When used in this way, it means that something is “almost” like the thing we’re describing, even though there are distinct differences.
- Virtually hidden (almost hidden)
- Virtually running (almost running)
In this way, “virtual” still means that something is similar but not quite the same, which is what we’re looking for from the words in this article.
You might see “virtual” in the following ways:
- This is only a virtual experience, but it comes close to being like the real thing.
- I’m virtually exploring the world around me with nothing but a computer console to do it.
- The virtual world that you’ve created has much of the same conflicting issues as we experience today.
- This is virtually identical to what we’ve seen already, which I find to be a waste!
You may also like:
12 Better Ways To Say “In Other Words”
11 Words That Mean “To Make Similar”
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
EDIT: I found the word: perversion. I’ll leave the post up though, as others might find it helpful.
I think the word I’m looking for starts with a P (not parody). Also, I think this word has a second meaning: similar, but disconcertingly so, and nominally a la ‘uncanny valley. I have tried Googling the answer and could only find this post, but the answers were not suitable and the context was different—-those answers include:
- Deceptively similar (two words, and I am quite sure there is a single alternative)
- simulacrum (too uncommon, no agreeded upon definition, and could possibly sound orotund in certain contexts)
However, its first paragraph is useful:
‘Specious would be a great analogy to the word I’m looking for. It is something that it is true on the surface but really is not, i.e. superficially familiar, but not if we look closely’
Example sentences:
- ‘Satire or parody is at its best when the imitation is believable. The characters or writing should only be a slight _________ of the real material.’
- ‘Disneyland castle is a _________ of a real palace.’
- My British friend told me ‘the TV show ‘The Crown’ is a bad imitation of British royalty, as it belittles it and is a complete _______ of reality.’
This article is about the general meaning of «synonym». For other uses, see Synonym (disambiguation).
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words begin, start, commence, and initiate are all synonyms of one another: they are synonymous. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning. Words are considered synonymous in only one particular sense: for example, long and extended in the context long time or extended time are synonymous, but long cannot be used in the phrase extended family. Synonyms with exactly the same meaning share a seme or denotational sememe, whereas those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational or connotational sememe and thus overlap within a semantic field. The former are sometimes called cognitive synonyms and the latter, near-synonyms,[2] plesionyms[3] or poecilonyms.[4]
LexicographyEdit
Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, connotations, ambiguous meanings, usage, and so on make them unique. Different words that are 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 (for example, a long arm is not the same as an extended arm). Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms.
Metonymy can sometimes be a form of synonymy: the White House is used as a synonym of the administration in referring to the U.S. executive branch under a specific president.[5] Thus, a metonym is a type of synonym, and the word metonym is a hyponym of the word synonym.[citation needed]
The analysis of synonymy, polysemy, hyponymy, and hypernymy is inherent to taxonomy and ontology in the information science senses of those terms.[6] It has applications in pedagogy and machine learning, because they rely on word-sense disambiguation.[7]
EtymologyEdit
The word is borrowed from Latin synōnymum, in turn borrowed from Ancient Greek synōnymon (συνώνυμον), composed of sýn (σύν ‘together, similar, alike’) and —ōnym— (-ωνυμ-), a form of onoma (ὄνομα ‘name’).[8]
SourcesEdit
Synonyms are often some from the different strata making up a language. For example, in English, Norman French superstratum words and Old English substratum words continue to coexist.[9] Thus, today we have synonyms like the Norman-derived people, liberty and archer, and the Saxon-derived folk, freedom and bowman. For more examples, see the list of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English.
Loanwords are another rich source of synonyms, often from the language of the dominant culture of a region. Thus, most European languages have borrowed from Latin and ancient Greek, especially for technical terms, but the native terms continue to be used in non-technical contexts. In East Asia, borrowings from Chinese in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese often double native terms. In Islamic cultures, Arabic and Persian are large sources of synonymous borrowings.
For example, in Turkish, kara and siyah both mean ‘black’, the former being a native Turkish word, and the latter being a borrowing from Persian. In Ottoman Turkish, there were often three synonyms: water can be su (Turkish), âb (Persian), or mâ (Arabic): «such a triad of synonyms exists in Ottoman for every meaning, without exception». As always with synonyms, there are nuances and shades of meaning or usage.[10]
In English, similarly, we often have Latin (L) and Greek (Gk) terms synonymous with Germanic ones: thought, notion (L), idea (Gk); ring, circle (L), cycle (Gk). English often uses the Germanic term only as a noun, but has Latin and Greek adjectives: hand, manual (L), chiral (Gk); heat, thermal (L), caloric (Gk). Sometimes the Germanic term has become rare, or restricted to special meanings: tide, time/temporal, chronic.[11]
Many bound morphemes in English are borrowed from Latin and Greek and are synonyms for native words or morphemes: fish, pisci- (L), ichthy- (Gk).
Another source of synonyms is coinages, which may be motivated by linguistic purism. Thus, the English word foreword was coined to replace the Romance preface. In Turkish, okul was coined to replace the Arabic-derived mektep and mederese, but those words continue to be used in some contexts.[12]
UsesEdit
Synonyms often express a nuance of meaning or are used in different registers of speech or writing.
Different technical fields may appropriate synonyms for specific technical meanings.
Some writers avoid repeating the same word in close proximity, and prefer to use synonyms: this is called elegant variation. Many modern style guides criticize this.
ExamplesEdit
Synonyms can be any part of speech, as long as both words belong to the same part of speech. Examples:
- noun: drink and beverage
- verb: buy and purchase
- adjective: big and large
- adverb: quickly and speedily
- preposition: on and upon
Synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words: pupil as the aperture in the iris of the eye is not synonymous with student. Similarly, he expired means the same as he died, yet my passport has expired cannot be replaced by my passport has died.
A thesaurus or synonym dictionary lists similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms.[13]
- The word poecilonym is a rare synonym of the word synonym. It is not entered in most major dictionaries and is a curiosity or piece of trivia for being an autological word because of its meta quality as a synonym of synonym.
- Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. For example: hot ↔ cold, large ↔ small, thick ↔ thin, synonym ↔ antonym
- Hypernyms and hyponyms 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.
- Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings. For example, witch and which are homophones in most accents (because they are pronounced the same).
- Homographs are words that have the same spelling but different meanings. For example, one can record a song or keep a record of documents.
- Homonyms are words that have the same pronunciation and spelling but different meanings. For example, rose (a type of flower) and rose (past tense of rise) are homonyms.
See alsoEdit
- -onym
- Synonym (taxonomy)
- Cognitive synonymy
- Elegant variation, the gratuitous use of a synonym in prose
- Synonym ring
- Synonymy in Japanese
- Thesauri and synonym dictionaries – Reference work for synonyms
ReferencesEdit
- ^ K.4375
- ^ Stanojević, Maja (2009), «Cognitive synonymy: a general overview» (PDF), Facta Universitatis, Linguistics and Literature Series, 7 (2): 193–200.
- ^ DiMarco, Chrysanne, and Graeme Hirst. «Usage notes as the basis for a representation of near-synonymy for lexical choice.» Proceedings of 9th annual conference of the University of Waterloo Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary and Text Research. 1993.
- ^ Grambs, David. The Endangered English Dictionary: Bodacious Words Your Dictionary Forgot. WW Norton & Company, 1997.
- ^ «World Architecture Images- The White House». www.essential-architecture.com. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
- ^ Hirst, Graeme. «Ontology and the lexicon.» Handbook on ontologies. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2009. 269-292.
- ^ Turney, Peter D. (2008). «A Uniform Approach to Analogies, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Associations». Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computational Linguistics — Volume 1. COLING ’08. Stroudsburg, PA, USA: Association for Computational Linguistics: 905–912. arXiv:0809.0124. ISBN 978-1-905593-44-6.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, 1919, s.v.
- ^ Bradley, Henry (1922). The Making of English. Macmillan and Company, Limited.
- ^ Ziya Gökalp, The Principles of Turkism, 1968, p. 78
- ^ Carl Darling Buck, A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages, 1949, reprinted as ISBN 0226079376
- ^ Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, 1999, ISBN 0198238568, p. 44, 70, 117
- ^ «Synonym dictionary words and phrases». www.allacronyms.com. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
External linksEdit
Look up synonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Synonyms are words that are similar in meaning but different in spelling.
The English language (like many other languages) has both synonyms and antonyms. There are many more
synonyms than antonyms, as many things do not have the opposite word (for example, the word sandwich
has a synonym for sandwich, hamburger and many other words, but here is the antonym to the word no
sandwich). Antonym is also much newer. addition to the English language than a synonym. is he first
appeared in the 1870s, while the synonym is used more than 500 years ago.
In our database of more than 1,000,000 (million) words, enter a word in the search field and click
find.
rephrase-tool.com — supports the free dictionary of synonyms of the English
language, the
origin of the words pronunciation of synonyms, example sentences, slang phrases. We help millions of
people learn how to use the English language correctly using our service.
Enrich your vocabulary.
Hi,
Today I used the phrase «usually always», which in my mind isn’t grammatically correct, but I notice people doing this sort of thing all the time and I’m wondering if there’s a term for it.
EDIT:
Thanks Reddit for helping out. While I was aware of an oxymoron, I was not aware of tautology, so I’m going to research a bit more into it.
level 1
If the words are synonyms, it would be a tautology. If the words are contradictory, as in your example, it would be an oxymoron. If they’re neither synonyms nor contradictory, that’s just having multiple modifiers. If the words are distinct but have similar or overlapping meanings, it’s probably not incorrect, but it might sound awkward, e.g. «the large, tall building.»
level 2
It’s worth noting that a tautology means something different in logic than it does in language. In logic, it means something along the lines of circular reasoning. So it might not be the best way to describe redundancy—depending on the context, the reader might not know which definition you are intending.
level 2
A «large, tall building» is different than a «thin, tall building». Large and tall fall into square rectangle rule. All tall buildings are large, but not all large buildings are small.
level 1
synoeciosis (sin-i-see’-i-sis) — A coupling or bringing together of contraries, but not in order to oppose them to one another (as in antithesis).
Also known as Enantiosis. Wikipedia gives the example “hasten slowly” and relates it to discordia concors which is
a combination of dissimilar images, or discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike. (…) The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together
More broadly you could call it a paradox.
level 1
This is tautology. «the saying of the same thing twice over in different words»
e.g they arrived one after the other in succession
level 1
I’d day that when I mean/meant ‘sometimes, this thing happens 100% of the time. Other times, it only happens 50% of the time.’
Idk, maybe It’s a debuff that takes your hit rate from 100% to 50% in an RPG for few turns.
Anyway, just be sure that it actually really doesn’t make sense.
This note accompanied a recent job submitted to ProofreadNOW.com: “Please check for any blaring errors.” And this excerpt appeared in another job: “Two witnesses must be present when you sign your advanced directive.”
Encountering a word that’s similar to the one that belongs but isn’t quite right is like stepping on a slippery object while walking in a murky lake — you know you’re not on solid ground but aren’t sure why.
Sometimes the answer is obvious, as in the first example, in which “blaring” (a loud and unpleasant sound) should be “glaring” (obvious or noticeable). Sometimes it’s less so. We see the error in the second example quite a bit at ProofreadNOW.com. “Advanced” means developed beyond an initial stage. “Advance” is the correct term here, meaning “made, sent or provided at an early time.”
Certain word pairs get mixed up all the time. Sometimes it’s because they’re homonyms and sound exactly alike (there/their/they’re; premier/premiere; led/lead), and sometimes it’s because they’re just similar enough to cause confusion. We talk about homonyms in this post. Here, we focus on words that sound or look similar but have subtle differences.
One of the best ways to learn about these differences in word pairs is to really understand what each word means. A dictionary is your best source for that, as are usage manuals such as Garner’s Modern American Usage. But remembering which word to use in which instance can still be hard without referring to a guide every time.
Unless you have some handy-dandy tips and tricks to help you remember, like these:
Accept | Except — “Accept” means to take something offered. “Except” means to exclude. The difficulty comes in sentences like the following, in which you’d have to know the writer’s intent:
Mr. Davis accepted/excepted the student’s late paper.
Did Mr. Davis take the paper or not? If the intent is clear, and you’re still not sure of the right word, keep the following tip in mind.
TIP: Because both “except” and “exclude” start with ex, substitute “exclude” for “except” in your sentence to see if it still makes sense.
Among | Between — Use “between” when talking about two; use “among” for more than two.
TIP: Use this phrase to remember that “between” applies to less than three:
Between you and me, a crowd is three.
Comprise | Compose — The whole comprises (includes/encompasses) the parts, so the whole comes before the parts when using “comprise.”
The gift comprises three turtle doves and four calling birds, among other things.
The parts compose (make up, constitute) the whole, so the parts come before the whole when using “compose.”
Three turtle doves and four calling birds, among others, compose the gift.
Passive constructions most often trip people up (is composed/comprised of). Just remember not to use “comprise” this way.
TIP: If you can’t substitute “include” for “comprise,” you’re not using “comprise” correctly.
Example: The zoo is comprised of 102 animal species. This is incorrect because you can’t say “The zoo is included of 102 animal species.” The correct form is: The zoo comprises (includes) 102 animal species.
Fewer | Less — Use “less” for singular nouns (Katie has less taffy) and plural nouns commonly treated as singular, such as measurements involving miles, hours or dollars (More than 26 miles is a long way to run. The $100 I gave you is gone already?!).
Use “fewer” for plural nouns (Katie has fewer pieces of taffy).
TIP: Both “less” and “singular” contain the letter S.
i.e. | e.g. — i.e. means “that is” and is used to further explain something [You’ll find an ATM at the nearby branch (i.e., the one at 8th and Main)]. e.g. means “for example” [We had all kinds of food at the international potluck (e.g., samosas, latkes, eggrolls)].
TIP: Remember “for eg-zample” to equate “e.g.” with examples.
Imply | Infer — “Imply” means to suggest. “Infer” means to deduce or guess. The speaker implies; the listener infers. The writer implies; the reader infers.
TIP: Remember this phrase to distinguish the two:
I sIMPLY meant to say … you’re IN FER a lot of trouble if your guess is wrong.
Who | Whom — “Who” is the subject (doer of action) (Who is calling?). “Whom” is the object (receiver of action) (Whom are you calling?).
TIP: If you can substitute he/she, use “who” (He/she is calling).
If you can substitute her/him, use “whom” (I am calling her/him).
At ProofreadNOW.com, we let context guide us, keeping in mind the target audience. That sometimes means we leave “who” when “whom” is grammatically correct. Think the famous line from Ghostbusters would have worked as well if it’d been “Whom you gonna call?”
Mix-ups in the word pairs above are ones we commonly see in documents that come through ProofreadNOW.com. Many others cause as much confusion. Some (lie/lay, affect/effect) warrant their own discussion, which we’ll take up in future posts, along with any others you find problematic. Let us know in the comments below what those are.
Topics:
word choices,
common mistakes,
misused words
Synonymy relates to the topic of semantics, which concerns the study of meaning in language. The term synonymy originates from the Greek words sún and onoma, which mean with and name.
Synonymy in semantics
Synonymy in semantics refers to a word with the same (or nearly the same) meaning as another word.
Let’s see if you’ve grasped the concept of synonymy by finding two synonymous words in these sentences:
- Today’s weather is awful.
- Today’s weather is terrible.
The first sentence uses awful to describe the weather and the second uses terrible. Although both sentences use different words, they have the same meaning: bad. In other words, awful and terrible are synonyms of bad.
Important note: Be careful of the slight differences between the synonyms. Not every synonymous word fits in all situations, eg small isn’t exactly the same as tiny. You have to consider some factors, including the context, the relationship between words, register, and regional variation, among others. Take a look at the ‘types of synonymy’ section for more details.
To test whether two words are synonyms (or synonymous), we can use a substitution method: if one word can be replaced by another without changing the meaning/sense of the sentence, the two words are synonyms. The opposite of synonymy is antonymy. Synonymy can be found across all parts of speech: in nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.
A ≈ B
Synonym examples
Here are some examples of synonyms:
-
big-large
-
small — little
-
easy — effortless
-
difficult — hard
Let’s put the synonyms into a sentence and use the substitution method:
1a. You have a big house.
1b. You have a large house.
By substituting big with large, we can keep the sentence’s meaning (the description of the house) in a similar degree/sense as the original sentence.
2a. He had a difficult decision to make.
2b. He had a hard decision to make.
The same as before, the substitution of difficult with hard does not change the sentence’s meaning (the description of the decision).
Synonymy in literature
Synonymy is one of the literary devices in which a word is replaced with another word with a similar meaning, to avoid repetition.
Here are some examples of synonymy in literature:
If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside.
— Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960.
Instead of repeating the word one kind, Lee chooses its synonym: alike, to relay a similar meaning to ‘very similar’. The same thing happens in the case of stayed shut up in the house and stay inside. Using synonymy, Lee enriches the prose by avoiding repetition while keeping the meaning similar in both cases.
For thee I watch, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere.
— William Shakespeare, Sonnet 61, 1609.
Wake is a synonym of watch. Here, wake means ‘to stay awake to watch or tend’ (Oxford English Dictionary). Notice the slightly richer sense of see in watch compared to wake, yet the two words carry a similar meaning. By adopting synonymy, Shakespeare enhances the quality of the words he uses.
I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly. If ever there were love in the world, I love her.
— Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859.
Fondly and devotedly are synonyms that describe ‘a way to show great love for somebody/something’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary). Using two different words with a similar meaning, Dickens describes how strong the character’s feelings are (how I love your daughter) without repeating the word.
Types of synonyms
Now that we’ve looked at the concept, let’s examine the two types of synonymy:
-
Absolute synonyms
-
Partial synonyms
Absolute synonyms
With absolute synonyms, the meaning and function of the synonymous words are exactly the same. If you have a pair of absolutely synonymous words, you can substitute the words in every possible context (semantic, grammatical, sociolinguistic, etc.) with its synonym. This condition is very rare because, usually, two words that refer to the same meaning/object can’t co-exist. An example of an absolute synonym is airport and aerodrome. The former is what we commonly use nowadays, whereas the latter is an old-fashioned word.
Partial synonyms
Partial synonyms, on the other hand, occur when words have very closely related meanings. The meanings are not exactly the same, only partially, but close enough to relay the same message. Partial synonyms can differ in their collocation, register, and regional/social variation.
Have a look at these examples of partial synonyms:
| 1. We have a big problem. | Although gigantic is synonymous with big, the word combination of gigantic problem (1c) doesn’t sound natural. This is what’s called a collocation (a pairing of words with a high level of frequency). |
| a. We have a large problem. | |
| b. We have a huge problem. | |
| c. We have a gigantic problem. |
| 2a. The tickets can only be bought online. | Generally, buy and purchase mean ‘to obtain something by paying money for it’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary). However, the two words differ in their register. Buy is considered a general term, whereas purchase is often used in a more formal context. |
| 2 B. The tickets can only be purchased online. |
| 3a. It’s been a very chilly autumn this year. |
Both autumn and fall mean ‘the season of the year between summer and winter.’ But, autumn is Commonly used in British English, while fall is used in American English. They differ in regional/social variety. |
| 3b. It’s been a very chilly fall this year. |
Synonymy and homonymy — what’s the difference?
Synonymous words are words that carry similar meanings (meaning 1 is similar to meaning 2 and meaning 3). Homonymous words (homonymy) are words that are pronounced the same or spelt the same (or both), but their meanings are dissimilar.
Important to note: Homonym is a broader term for homophone (words that sound the same but have different meanings) and homograph (words that are spelt the same but have different meanings).
Synonyms have similar meanings but homonyms have different meanings.
Synonymy and polysemy — what’s the difference?
When a set of different words carries a similar meaning it is called synonymy. When a single word has several meanings (word form 1 has meaning 1 and meaning 2), it is called polysemy.
Synonymy — similar meanings: wing — extension & section.
- They are building a new wing for the maternity department.
- They are building a new extension for the maternity department.
Even though the word wing is replaced with extension, we still get the same information about ‘a new section of the hospital is currently being constructed and it is for the maternity department’. The meaning of extension isn’t exactly the same as wing , but similar.
- My room is on the west wing.
- My room is on the west section (of the building).
The same explanation can also be found here. We still get the same information about where my room is: on the west side of the building.
Polysemy — multiple meanings: wing — animal parts for flying & a section of a building.
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They are building a new wing for the maternity department.
The meaning of wing in this sentence refers to ‘a section of building’ and not ‘animal parts for flying’.
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The bird’s wing is broken.
Here, the meaning of wing is about the ‘animal parts for flying’ and not ‘a section of a building’.
Synonymy vs. Polysemy
- In synonymy, you can substitute a word with its similar meaning and the sense/meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. A is similar to B .
- Synonyms are usually used as a means of avoiding word repetition. However, be careful of the slightly different meanings of synonymous words. Always be mindful of the context and valency of the sentence.
- Polysemy isn’t about word substitution. Because a single polysemic word has many meanings (A means B and C) , it can cause ambiguity. It is often used for wordplay or for creating “hidden” meanings.
Synonymy — Key takeaways
- Synonymy is a linguistic term for words with similar meanings.
- If you replace one word with its synonym, the meaning/sense of the sentence doesn’t change. You can test synonymy by using the substitution method.
- There are two types of synonymy: Absolute synonyms, when the meaning and function of the words is exactly the same, and partial synonyms, when the meaning and function of the words is only partially the same. This may depend on the collocation, register, and regional/social variety of the words.
- Synonymy features words with similar meanings, while homonymy has words with different meaning but have the same pronunciation or spelling or both.
- Synonymy involves words with similar meanings, while polysemy is words with multiple meanings did create wordplay.
In many Latin languages, one can find a great number of false cognates. They are basically words that look similar but have a different meaning in the two given languages, although they might have a common historical linguistic origin. This could give the language student a hard time, but with practice and experience, they become quite familiar with such words and learn their different meanings.
There are also words that are called semi-false cognates. These words look similar and but have the same meaning sometimes only. In such cases, they have the same meaning plus other meanings in the second given language, depending on the context and connotation.
It is noteworthy that false cognates are not the same as false friends (or what we call in French “faux amis”). The latter are words or phrases in two languages (or letters in two alphabets) that look similar but have different meanings.
The list below is for a few English/French false cognates.
Actuel (F) Vs. Actual (E):
In French, the word “actuel” refers to something “at present” or “in the present time”. The English word “actual” means “real”.
Addition (F) Vs. Addition (E):
“L’addition” in French means the sum or the bill at a restaurant, while its English false cognate “addition” means just that: addition (in math for example).
Office (F) Vs. Office (E):
“Office” in French does not mean office. It actually means a task, a duty or a charge. The equivalent of office in French is bureau. In the US, the word “bureau” refers to a government department, which is completely different from the French meaning of the word!
Répliquer (F) Vs. (Replicate)
The French word “répliquer” means to reply, to answer. It is completely different from the English word “replicate”, which in French means reproduire (to reproduce) or replier (to fold back).
Report (F) Vs. Report (E):
Report in French means the postponement. The French equivalent of the English word “report” is rapport.
Assister (F) Vs. Assist (E):
“Assister à” means to attend (i.e. a meeting, a conference, etc.), while “to assist” means to help.
Attendre (F) Vs. Attend (E):
The English meaning of “attendre” is not to attend. In fact, “attendre” means to wait.
Avertissement (F) Vs. Advertisement (E):
The French word “avertissement” means a warning. The equivalent of “advertisement” in French is actually publicité. Therefore, “avertir” is not to advertise; it is to warn.
Blesser (F) Vs. Bless (E):
To bless is “bénir” in French. As for “blesser”, it means to wound.
Chair (F) Vs. Chair (E):
The French “chair” means flesh in English. The English “chair” means chaise in French.
Coin (F) Vs. Coin (E):
“Un coin” is a corner. “A coin” is “une pièce de monnaie”.
Agenda (F) Vs. Agenda (E):
The French word “agenda” means a diary. Its English false cognate translates into ordre du jour.
Rester (F) Vs. Rest (E):
Rester in French is to stay in English. To rest means se reposer in French.
The list goes on and on and I’ll probably write a second part about this subject. Please feel free to send your contributions in this regard on info@transpremium.com and I’ll be glad to publish them as a guest post!