synonym

synonym [Gr.,=having the same name], word having a meaning that is the same as or very similar to the meaning of another word of the same language. Some are alike in some meanings only, as live and dwell. As a language develops, words that once were synonyms tend to become restricted so that eventually they differ in meaning or in usage (e.g., prostitute and strumpet, in which the latter is now confined to literary use). Words taken into English from French and Latin have created many synonyms, e.g., wax (taken from Old English), increase (taken from Old French), and augment (taken from Latin). The classic English synonym collections are George Crabb's Synonymes and P. M. Roget's Thesaurus.

SYNONYM. A WORD that means the same as another, such as male and masculine. Linguists and many writers agree that there is ‘no such thing as a synonym’, though the reasons for their opinions may differ. Linguists maintain that no two words have the same distribution, frequency, connotation, or language level; the reasons given by others are often vague, but in essence focus on differences in connotation, or reactions evoked in the reader or hearer by alternative words for the same thing. It is therefore perhaps best to say that a synonym is a word that shares the same denotation with another word. Notwithstanding disputes over the validity of the concept, there is a substantial body of published information containing synonym lists and studies, and it has become standard practice among dictionary publishers to include some of that information in general dictionaries. See ANTONYM, BISOCIATION, BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, SEMANTICS, SYNONYMY, THESAURUS.

synonym In taxonomy, a plant name that differs from the official name. Usually, it is an older name that does not conform to the rules governing priority in the application of names.