Synonymes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Words or expressions that have the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or phrase and can be used interchangeably in certain contexts
2. Alternative terms or phrases that convey equivalent meanings and can replace each other without changing the sense of a sentence
3. Lexical items that share similar or identical meanings and serve as substitutes to enhance variety or clarity in language use

Etymology: "Synonymes" is the plural of "synonyme", the older French-influenced spelling of the English noun "synonym". The underlying word came into English through French from Late Latin "synonymum", which in turn was borrowed from Greek "synōnymon", a compound of "syn-", meaning "together" or "with", and "onyma", meaning "name". Put together, the parts suggest things that bear the same name. The plural form itself is simply the regular plural of that noun, so "synonymes" is best understood as an inflected variant of "synonym" rather than a word with its own history. Its spelling reflects the French-style ending of the original borrowing, a reminder that many scientific and learned English words arrived by way of French before their spellings settled into the forms used today.

Synonyms: synonyms, equivalents, alternatives

Antonyms: antonyms, opposites