www.alphadictionary.com

• synonym •

Pronunciation: sin-ê-nim • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A word with a meaning identical or nearly identical to that of another words: couch and sofa are synonyms, as are faucet and spigot.

Notes: The family of synonym includes the noun, synonymy, and two adjectives: synonymic and the much more popular synonymous [sê-non-ê-mês]. Remember that is isn't a sin to use a synonym and that should help you spell it correctly.

In Play: This 'nym is the most popular of all and is widely used metaphorically: "New Monia is a synonym for healthy living far from the crowded city." It is so popular, in fact, most people already know how to pronounce the adjective. I am sure you have heard advertisements similar to this: "The restaurant at Eaton Place is synonymous with fine dining at expectable prices."

Word History: This word is yet another that came to Middle English down the by-now-familiar Greek-Latin-French chute. It originates in Greek sunonymos "synonymous", comprising syn (sym-, syl-) "(together) with, same" + our old friend onyma "name". Syn is assumed to come from an original root like *ksun "with", for Latin has a preposition con (com, col-, cor-, etc.) with the same meaning. Russian and other Slavic languages have a related preposition, s(o) "(together) with", which is also used as a prefix in words like sputnik "fellow traveler" and soviet "council". Need more 'nyms? We have pages of them here.

Gee, it only took me 3 and a half years to notice that the last word in this post is meant to be a link. Here. I guess I shouldn't feel that bad, though, as no one else seems to have caught it, either.

Now, to resurrect the old line, what's the synonym for synonym?

Writers are supposed to be adept at synonyms in order not to repeat words too close together. Question: why is the Greek letter upsilon so often written in English with a Y? In Greek it looks just like a low case u.

Perry: I believe lower case Greek letters were intended to be written with a pen or brush, while the upper case letters were intended to be chiseled in stone. You can see the same thing in the Roman U being sometimes written as a V. Where did you see an upper case upsilon that is not written Y? In my limited experience, that is the only way I have seen it. The lower case upsilon resembles a u.

Slava: There is no synonym for synonym. So let’s bury the old line.

If you constantly search for synonyms when writing or talking, you may have monologophobia.