Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A contronym is a word with two opposite meanings. For example, the word original can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also called enantiosemy, [1] [2] enantionymy (enantio-means "opposite"), antilogy or autoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definition polysemic.
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. [1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite.
The term is a piece of computer humor entered into the 1981 The Devil's DP Dictionary. [48] Anatidaephobia – the fictional fear that one is being watched by a duck. The word comes from the name of the family Anatidae, and was used in Gary Larson's The Far Side. [49] Anoraknophobia – a portmanteau of "anorak" and "arachnophobia".
British English meanings Meanings common to British and American English American English meanings pacifier something or somebody that brings peace rubber teat for babies (UK: dummy) paddle a walk through shallow water, especially at the seaside (US approx. wade, also UK usage) [48] an oar used to propel a canoe, kayak or a small boat
An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction. As a rhetorical device, an oxymoron illustrates a point to communicate and reveal a paradox.
The term antonym (and the related antonymy) is commonly taken to be synonymous with opposite, but antonym also has other more restricted meanings. Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a continuous spectrum (hot, cold).
Root Meaning in English Origin language Etymology (root origin) English examples cac-, kak-[1]bad: Greek: κακός (kakós), κάκιστος (kákistos): cachexia ...
Words with specific American meanings that have different meanings in British English and/or additional meanings common to both dialects (e.g., pants, crib) are to be found at List of words having different meanings in British and American English. When such words are herein used or referenced, they are marked with the flag [DM] (different ...