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This glossary contains definitions for words used throughout the website.  If you have a suggestion of a word that should be included here, please e-mail me at tim@mr-anderson.com.



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CLASSES OF WORDS

acronym

:

A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each word in a set of words.

Examples:

  • NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • radar - RAdio Detecting and Ranging
  • NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • scuba - self contained underwater breating apparatus
• From Greek akros (=point, tip).
Keyword(s):

antonym

:

A word opposite in meaning to another word

Example:

  • good and bad
  • fast and slow
  • elated and melancholy
From Greek anti (=against)

aptronym

:
A person's name that matches it's owner's occupation or character very well (either in fiction or reality)

Examples:
  • arctic explorer Will Snow
  • hairdresser Dan Druff
• From apt (=suitable); coined by Franklin P. Adams.

autoantonym

:
A word that can take two (or more) opposite meanings;

Examples:
  • fast means "moving quickly" or "fixed firmly in place"
  • overlook means "to watch over carefully" or "to fail to notice"
• From Greek auto (=self) + anti (=against).
• Often hyphenated as auto-antonym.
Keyword(s):

autonym

:
1. A word that describes itself
Examples:
  • noun is a noun
  • polysyllabic is polysyllabic
  • abbrv. is an abbreviation
  • word is a word.
2. A person's real name; the opposite of pseudonym.

3. A name by which a social group or race refers to itself.

•From Greek auto (=self).

Keyword(s):

bacronym

:
The reverse of producing an acronym; taking a word which already exists and creating a phrase (usually humorous) using the letters of the word as initials

Examples:
  • Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody (BANANA)
  • Guaranteed Overnight Delivery (GOD).
• From back(wards) + acronym.

capitonym

:
A word which changes its meaning and pronunciation when capitalized

Examples:
  • polish and Polish
  • august and August
  • concord and Concord
• From capital letter

eponym

:

A person whose name is the source of the name of something.

Examples:

  • Rudolph Diesel is the eponym of the diesel engine
  • General Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), a Civil war general whose trademark was a bushy beard that extended only along the jawline, is the eponym of the word sideburns

Note: The term eponym is also sometimes used to refer to a word that is derived from a person's name.

Websites for researching eponyms:
• From Greek epo (=on).

exonym

:
A place name used by foreigners that differs from the name used by natives

Examples:
  • Londres is the French exonym for London
  • Germany is an exonym because Germans call it Deutschland.
• From Greek exo (=outside).

heteronym

:
One of two (or more) words that have the same spelling, but different meaning, and sometimes different pronunciation too. (Heteronyms that are pronounced differently are also heterophones.)

Examples:
  • sewer
  • row
  • entrance
  • wind.
A heteronym is a kind of homonym.

homograph

:

A word with the same spelling as another word, whether or not pronounced alike

Examples:

  • pen (a writing instrument) vs. pen (an enclosure)
  • bow (and arrow) vs. bow (of a ship)

homonym

:

A word with different origin and meaning but the same oral or written form as one or more other words

Examples:

  • bear (an animal) vs. bear (to support) vs. bare (exposed)
Homonyms include homophones and homographs.

homophone

:

A word with different origin and meaning but the same pronunciation as another word, whether or not spelled alike

Example:

  • hair and hare

hypernym

:
A word that has a more general meaning than another

Examples:
  • in the relationship between chair and furniture, furniture is a hypernym
  • in the relationship between horse and animal, animal is a hypernym.
• From Greek hyper (=over).

Keyword(s):

hyponym

:
A word that has a more specific meaning than another

Examples:
  • in the relationship between chair and furniture, chair is a hyponym
  • in the relationship between horse and animal, horse is a hyponym

meronym

:
1. A word that refers to a part of what another word refers to

  • in the relationship between leg and ankle, ankle is a meronym
  • in the relationship between brim and hat, brim is a meronym.
2. A term midway between two opposites
Examples:
  • flat between convex and concave
  • present between past and future.
• From Greek meros (=part).

metonym

:
A word designates something by the name of something associated with it

Examples:
  • the Crown referring to the monarchy
  • the bottle referring to alcohol
  • the White House for the US executive branch.
• From Greek meta (=change).

metronym

:
A name derived from the name of one's mother, or another female ancestor.

From Greek metros (=mother).

oronym

:
A string of words which is homophonic with another string of words

Examples:
  • ice cream and I scream
  • mint spy and mince pie

paronym

:
A word from the same root, and usually a similar pronunciation, as another;

Example:
  • beautiful and beauteous.
• From Greek para (=beside).

patronym

:
A name derived from the name of one's father, or another male ancestor.

• From Greek pater (=father).

pseudonym

:
An assumed name, especially by an author.

Examples:
  • Mark Twain is a pseudonym for Samuel Clemens.
  • Theodore Geisel used the pseudonym of Dr. Seuss.
  • Eric Arthur Blair wrote the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four under the pseudonym George Orwell.
• From Greek pseudo (=false).

Keyword(s):

retronym

:
An adjective-noun pairing generated by a change in the meaning of the base noun, usually as a result of technological advance

Examples:
  • watch became pocket watch due to introduction of wrist watch
  • pen became fountain pen due to introduction of ball-point pen
From Greek retro (=backward); coined by Frank Mankiewicz.

synonym

:

One of two or more words in a language that have similar meanings

Example:

  • answer and respond

tautonym

:
1. A word composed of two identical parts

Examples:
  • pawpaw
  • yo-yo
  • tutu
  • bye-bye
2. In biological nomenclature, a taxonomic name in which the genus and species names are identical

Examples:
  • puffinus puffinus (manx shearwater)
  • apus apus (common swift)
• From Greek taut (=same)

toponym

:
1. A place name

Examples:
  • London
  • Mount Everest

2. A word derived from a place name

Examples:
  • champagne from Champagne in France
  • cashmere from Kashmir in India.
• From Greek topos (=place).

POETIC ELEMENTS

alliteration

:

The repetition of of initial vowels or consonants at the beginning of words (e.g., winter wind, slurp and soul, or omit and open.

amphibrach

:
Array

amphimacer

:
Array

anapest

:
a three-syllable foot with the stress on the third.

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