A
synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be
synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called
synonymy. The word comes from
Ancient Greek syn ("with") and
onoma ("name"). An example of synonyms are the words
begin,
start, and
commence. Words can be synonymous when meant in certain
senses, even if they are not synonymous in all of their senses. For example, if we talk about a
long time or an
extended time,
long and
extended are synonymous within that
context. Synonyms with exact interchangeability share a
seme or denotational
sememe, whereas those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational or connotational
sememe and thus overlap within a
semantic field. Some academics call the former type
cognitive synonyms to distinguish them from the latter type, which they call near-synonyms.