Meanings
- not comparableartsReflecting intended structure and meaning.
plural semantics
- human sciencesIn such writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a phono-semantic character that provides an indication of its meaning; contrasted with phonetic.
In this particular case, the semantic is on the left of its host sinogram.
2013, William S-Y. Wang, Love and War in Ancient China: Voices from the Shijing, page 252 more examples
Its semantic is polysyllabic, viz. it uses the word formations of spoken Chinese.
2005, Friedrich Alexander Bischoff, Yinglin Wang, San tzu ching explicated, the classical initiation to classic Chinese couplet I to XI, page 21The 亻(人) ren2 'person' semantic has been replaced by 氵(水) shui3 'water' semantic in浸, but帚 zhou3 'broom' has phonetically or semantically nothing to do with 浸 and is just a residue of 侵 after亻(人) ren2 'person' has been removed.
2017, Vladimir Skultety, Understanding Chinese Characters
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Frenchsémantique
- Ancient Greekσημαντικός“giving signs; significant”
- Englishsemantic
As noted by the OED, first attested in 1665 as semantick (“relating to divination through the interpretation of signs”, adjective), a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós, “giving signs; significant”), seemingly coined by English religious scholar and clergyman John Spencer. The linguistic sense is not attested until 1890, where it is an independent academic borrowing from French sémantique, or possibly a back-formation from semantics, derived around the same time from the same French lemma, originally la Sémantique (“[the study of] semantics”, noun), coined transparently from the aforementioned Greek source by French philologist Michel Bréal in 1883 at his inception of the field. Popularized at the beginning of the 20th century, following the publication of the English translation of Bréal's 1897 book Essai de sémantique. The colloquial and computer science senses are extended from that in linguistics.
More words from Ancient Greek, French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَلَالَات الأَلفَاظ
- دَلَالَات الأَلفَاظof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Catalan semàntic
- semànticof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Chinese Mandarin 形旁, 意符
- 形旁 (xíngpáng)component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates meaning
- 意符 (yìfú)component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates meaning
Czech sémantický, významový
- sémantickýof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- významovýof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Danish semantisk, betydningsmæssig
- semantiskof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- betydningsmæssigof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Dutch semantisch
- semantischof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Finnish semanttinen, merkitysopillinen
- semanttinenof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- merkitysopillinenof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- semanttinen osacomponent of a phono-semantic compound that indicates meaning
French sémantique
- sémantiqueof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
German semantisch
- semantischof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Greek σημασιολογικός
- σημασιολογικός (simasiologikós)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Hindi अर्थसंबंधी
- अर्थसंबंधी (arthasambandhī)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Hungarian szemantikus, szemantikai
- szemantikusof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- szemantikaiof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- jelentéstaniof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- jelentésbeliof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Icelandic merkingarlegur, merkingarfræðilegur
- merkingarlegurof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- merkingarfræðilegurof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Indonesian semantis
- semantisof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Irish séimeantach, séimeantaice
- séimeantachof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- séimeantaiceof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Italian semantico
- semanticoof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Japanese 意味的な, 意符
- 意味的な (imiteki na)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- 意符 (ifu)component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates meaning
Korean 시멘틱
- 시멘틱 (simentik)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Polish semantyczny, część semantyczna
- semantycznyof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- część semantycznacomponent of a phono-semantic compound that indicates meaning
Portuguese semântico
- semânticoof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Romanian semantic
- semanticof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Russian семанти́ческий
- семанти́ческий (semantíčeskij)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Slovak sémantický, významový
- sémantickýof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- významovýof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Spanish semántico
- semánticoof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Swedish betydelsemässig, semantisk
- betydelsemässigof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- semantiskof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Turkish anlamsal, manaya ait
- anlamsalof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- manaya aitof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
- semantikof or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Ukrainian семанти́чний
- семанти́чний (semantýčnyj)of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with semantic
Anagrams
Cite this entry
semantic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semantic
“semantic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semantic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semantic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semantic.
Source: semantic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.