polysemy

Definition

The quality characteristic of a polyseme, a sign (such as a word or symbol) that has multiple meanings (senses), often including multiple similar ones.

Etymology

From polyseme + -y.

Example Sentences

• "Fifty years ago the linguist and semanticist Stephen Ullmann wrote that polysemy, the fact that some words have a network of multiple but related meanings, is "the pivot of semantic analysis" […]"
• "Polysemy proliferates in natural language: Virtually every word is polysemous to some extent."

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