Janus word

plural Janus words

1. A word that has two contradictory meanings; a contronym.

   A pro-attitude cannot be regarded as rational unless it can be justified by showing that the object of the attitude can be characterized by means of a Janus-word.

   1971, Richard J. Norman, Reasons for Actions: A Critique of Utilitarian Rationality, page 67

   2 more examples

   The poet is caught in the contradiction of this Janus word. Both and neither speaking and/nor silent, the poet becomes the contradiction in which the title "Dichtermuth" involves him.

   1994, Nancy Dena Goldfarb, The poetics of drowning, page 37

   The difference between them is that in Janus parallelism, the referents of the Janus word do not contain the same root as the Janus word; in antanaclasis, the same root is repeated with a different meaning.

   1996, Scott B. Noegel, Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, page 187