Word similarity
From Helpful
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| This article/section is a stub — probably a pile of half-sorted notes, is not well-checked so may have incorrect bits. (Feel free to ignore, or tell me) |
Contents
Various -nyms
Same pronunciation
(Yes, the terms are a bit messy, it's not just you)
homophone
- different meaning
- (says nothing about spelling. If same spelling it is a homonym. If different spelling, it is a heterograph)
- same pronunciation
- e.g. waste, waist
heterograph
- different meaning
- different spelling
- same pronunication
- e.g. two, too
The case of:
- same meaning
- different spelling
- same pronunication
- e.g. gases, gasses
Same spelling
homograph (note: group with some more specific cases)
- different meaning
- same spelling
- (says nothing about pronunciation. If also same pronunciation, it is a homonym)
heteronyms
- different meaning
- same spelling
- different pronunciation
- e.g. desert (noun: arid region; verb: to abandon), bow (gesture; weapon)
read (reading in present and past tense)
The case of:
- same meaning
- same spelling
- different pronunciation
- (e.g. the with and without stress, )
To complete the cases above
homonym = homograph and homophone
- different meaning
- same spelling
- same pronunciation
- e.g. mean (average; being nasty),
stalk (plant; following) - also turns up around equivocation - using different interpretations of the same word at different times
synonym
- same meaning (or very similar) (distinguished mostly by idiosyncrasies)
- different spelling
- different pronunication
identical words (same everything)
unrelated words (different everything)
Note that polysemy looks pretty close to homography
Paronym: Near-homonyms, or related in root (e.g. cognates)
Other relations
- Antonym: Opposition of meaning in some sense, e.g. good and bad. (Occasionally has various gradations. Seems to work best on abstract nouns)
- Hyponym: More specific, e.g. cutlery has hyponyms spoon, fork, etc.
- Hypernym: More general. Knife has hypernym cutlery.
- Holonym
- Meronym
- Troponym
