polysemous

English

WOTD – 2 February 2008

Etymology

From Medieval Latin polysēmus, from Ancient Greek πολύσημος (polúsēmos), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “I signify, mean”). By surface analysis, poly- +‎ -semous.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈlɪs.ɪ.məs/, /ˌpɒl.ɪˈsiː.məs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpɑːl.iˈsiː.məs/, /pəˈlɪs.ə.məs/

• Audio (US):

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  Audio (US):

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Adjective

polysemous (not comparable)

1. (rhetoric, linguistics) Synonym of polysemic.
   • 2000, Yael Ravin, Claudia Leacock, Polysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches, Oxford: OUP, →ISBN, page 52:

     But just how are the meanings associated with a polysemous word related? A look at the entries for polysemous words in different dictionaries shows that lexicographers cannot agree on how to divide up the semantic space […]

Derived terms

• nonpolysemous
• polysemously
• polysemousness

Related terms

• bisemous
• polysemy

Translations

having multiple meanings

• Bulgarian: многозна́чен (mnogoznáčen)
• Catalan: polisèmic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多義 / 多义 (zh) (duōyì)

• Czech: polysémický (cs) m
• Dutch: meerduidig (nl), veelduidig, polyseem (nl)
• Finnish: monimerkityksinen (fi)
• French: polysème (fr), polysémique (fr)
• German: mehrdeutig (de)
• Greek: πολύσημος (el) m (polýsimos)
• Hungarian: többjelentésű (hu), poliszém
• Icelandic: (polysemous word) margrætt orð n
• Italian: polisemo
• Norwegian: polysemantisk, flertydig, mangetydig
• Persian: پرمعنا (porrma'nâ)
• Polish: polisemiczny, wieloznaczny (pl)
• Portuguese: polissémico (Portugal), polissêmico (Brazil)
• Russian: многозна́чный (ru) (mnogoznáčnyj)
• Spanish: polisémico (es), polisemántico
• Welsh: amlystyrol