Meanings
- not comparablerhetorichuman sciencesSynonym of polysemic.
But just how are the meanings associated with a polysemous word related? A look at the entries for polysemous words in different dictionaries shows that lexicographers cannot agree on how to divide up the semantic space […]
2000, Yael Ravin, Claudia Leacock, Polysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches, Oxford: OUP, →ISBN, page 52Synonyms: polysemic
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSynonym of polysemic.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof words; having many meanings
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπολύσημος
- Medieval Latinpolysēmus
- Englishpolysemous
From Medieval Latin polysēmus, from Ancient Greek πολύσημος (polúsēmos), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “I signify, mean”). By surface analysis, poly- + -semous.
More words from Medieval Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian многозна́чен
- многозна́чен (mnogoznáčen)having multiple meanings
Catalan polisèmic
- polisèmichaving multiple meanings
Chinese Mandarin 多義 /多义
- 多義 /多义 (duōyì)having multiple meanings
Czech polysémický
- polysémickýhaving multiple meanings
Dutch meerduidig, veelduidig
- meerduidighaving multiple meanings
- veelduidighaving multiple meanings
- polyseemhaving multiple meanings
Finnish monimerkityksinen
- monimerkityksinenhaving multiple meanings
French polysème, polysémique
- polysèmehaving multiple meanings
- polysémiquehaving multiple meanings
German mehrdeutig
- mehrdeutighaving multiple meanings
Greek πολύσημος
- πολύσημος (polýsimos)having multiple meanings
Hungarian többjelentésű, poliszém
- többjelentésűhaving multiple meanings
- poliszémhaving multiple meanings
Icelandic margrætt orð
- margrætt orðhaving multiple meanings
Italian polisemo
- polisemohaving multiple meanings
Norwegian polysemantisk, flertydig
- polysemantiskhaving multiple meanings
- flertydighaving multiple meanings
- mangetydighaving multiple meanings
Persian پرمعنا
- پرمعنا (porrma'nâ)having multiple meanings
Polish polisemiczny, wieloznaczny
- polisemicznyhaving multiple meanings
- wieloznacznyhaving multiple meanings
Portuguese polissémico, polissêmico
- polissémicohaving multiple meanings
- polissêmicohaving multiple meanings
Russian многозна́чный
- многозна́чный (mnogoznáčnyj)having multiple meanings
Spanish polisémico, polisemántico
- polisémicohaving multiple meanings
- polisemánticohaving multiple meanings
Welsh amlystyrol
- amlystyrolhaving multiple meanings
Cite this entry
polysemous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polysemous
“polysemous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polysemous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polysemous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polysemous.
Source: polysemous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.