| English Dictionary |
POLYSEMY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does polysemy mean?
• POLYSEMY (noun)
The noun POLYSEMY has 1 sense:
1. the ambiguity of an individual word or phrase that can be used (in different contexts) to express two or more different meanings
Familiarity information: POLYSEMY used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The ambiguity of an individual word or phrase that can be used (in different contexts) to express two or more different meanings
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
lexical ambiguity; polysemy
Hypernyms ("polysemy" is a kind of...):
ambiguity; equivocalness (unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning)
Antonym:
monosemy (having a single meaning (absence of ambiguity) usually of individual words or phrases)
Derivation:
polysemous (of words; having many meanings)
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