polysemy

pol·y·se·my

[pol-ee-see-mee, puh-lis-uh-mee]
noun
diversity of meanings.

Origin:
1895–1900; < Neo-Latin polysēmia, equivalent to Late Latin polysēm(us) with many significations (< Greek polýsēmos, equivalent to poly- poly- + sêm(a) sign + -os adj. suffix) + -ia -y3

pol·y·se·mous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To polysemy
Collins
World English Dictionary
polysemy (ˌpɒlɪˈsiːmɪ, pəˈlɪsəmɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
Compare monosemy the existence of several meanings in a single word
 
[C20: from New Latin polysēmia, from Greek polusēmos having many meanings, from poly- + sēma a sign]
 
poly'semous
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Polysemy is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT