Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

polysemy

/ˈpɒ.lɪ.siː.mi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.58 in modern English

Syllables: pol-y-se-my
IPA: /ˈpɒ.lɪ.siː.mi/

18

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Uncountable

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."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma)lbor. English seme English polyseme Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Old French -ieder. Middle English -ie Middle English -y English -y English polysemy From polyseme + -y.

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈpɒ.lɪ.siː.mi/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

polysemies (plural)

Phrases

lexical ambiguity

Frequently Paired Words

ambiguity lexical ambiguity polysemic polysemous polysemously homonymy homosemy

Synonyms

lexical ambiguity

Antonyms

monosemy

Questions

How do you pronounce polysemy?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɒ.lɪ.siː.mi/.
What does polysemy mean?: The quality characteristic of a polyseme, a sign (such as a word or symbol) that has multiple meanings (senses), often including multiple similar ones.
Where does polysemy come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma)lbor. English seme English polyseme Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Old French -ieder. Middle English -ie Middle English -y English -y English polysemy From polyseme + -y.

How to pronounce polysemy

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “polysemy”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɒ.lɪ.siː.mi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “polysemy” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.