polysemic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der.
Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús
Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor.
English poly-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyh₂-?
Proto-Indo-European *dʰyeh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥
Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥
Proto-Hellenic *tsā́mə?
Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma)lbor.
English seme
English polyseme
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Indo-European *-ikos
Proto-Italic *-ikos
Latin -icuslbor.
Old French -iquebor.
▲
Latin -icusbor.
Middle English -ik
English -ic
English polysemic

    From polyseme + -ic.

    Pronunciation

    • (UK) IPA(key): /pəˈlɪs.ɪ.mɪk/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • (US) IPA(key): /pɒ.lɪˈsiː.mɪk/

    Adjective

    polysemic (comparative more polysemic, superlative most polysemic)

    1. (linguistics) Having a number of senses (meanings) or understandings.
      Synonyms: polysemantic, polysemous
      Antonyms: monosemantic, monosemic, monosemous, univocal
      • 2007, Sean Brayton, “MTV's Jackass: Transgression, Abjection and the Economy of White Masculinity”, in Journal of Gender Studies, volume 16, page 58:
        As a series of polysemic and paradoxical sketches, Jackass does not lend itself to one particular theoretical analysis.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    See also

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