synonymise
Definition
Verb (transitive): - To provide a synonym for (a word): The act of creating or assigning a synonym to a word, typically in lexicography or linguistic analysis. - The lexicographer worked to synonymise the verb "run" by listing "sprint," "jog," and "dash." - To treat as synonymous: To consider or represent two or more words as having the same or nearly the same meaning, often in a dictionary or thesaurus. - In that old thesaurus, they synonymised "happy" and "joyful" without distinction.
Usage Examples
- (To provide synonyms for each word.)
- (To treat words as synonymous.)
Advanced Usage
- "To synonymise with": to be considered equivalent in meaning to another word.
- In this dictionary, "begin" is synonymised with "commence." (They are treated as having the same meaning.)
Variants and Related Words
- Synonym (n): a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another.
- "Big" is a synonym of "large."
- Synonymous (adj): having the same or a similar meaning.
- "Quick" and "fast" are synonymous in many contexts.
- Synonymy (n): the quality or state of being synonymous; the study of synonyms.
- The synonymy of "buy" and "purchase" is well-documented.
Synonyms
- Equate: to treat as equal or equivalent.
- Identify: to regard as the same.
- Associate: to connect in thought or meaning.
Phrasal Verbs
- Synonymise with: to link or pair (a word) with another as a synonym.
- The researcher synonymised "anger" with "rage" in the database. (He paired them as synonyms.)
Related Idioms
- Put in the same basket: to treat different things as identical or interchangeable.
- Don't synonymise all politicians — they are not all the same. (Do not treat them as equivalent.)