Jump to content

semantics

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: semàntics

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From French sémantique, displacing earlier semasiology. From Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós). By surface analysis, semantic +‎ -ics.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

semantics (countable and uncountable, plural semantics)

  1. (linguistics) A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words. [1893]
    Semantics is a foundation of lexicography.
  2. The study of the relationship between words and their meanings.
    • 2006, Patrick Blackburn, Johan Bos, Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now![1], archived from the original on 28 March 2015, section 8.1:
      In fact, nowadays a lot is known about the semantics of natural languages, and it is surprisingly easy to build semantic representations which partially capture the meaning of sentences or even entire discourses.
  3. The meaning or set of meanings of a linguistic element, such as a word, morpheme or utterance.
    In very ancient or poorly documented languages, the precise semantics of words tend to be uncertain.
    1. The meanings of individual words, as opposed to the overall meaning of a passage.
      The semantics of the terms used are debatable.
  4. (computer science) The meaning of computer language constructs, in contrast to their form or syntax.
    file sharing and locking semantics
  5. (loosely, colloquial, of a detail or distinction) Pettiness or triviality.
    Who cares? This is all just semantics!

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
  • semantics”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

[edit]