What is "synonym"

Synonym \Syn"o*nym\ (s[i^]n"[-o]*n[i^]m), n.; pl. Synonyms (s[i^]n"[-o]*n[i^]mz). [F. synonyme, L. synonyma, pl. of synonymum, Gr. synw`nymon. See Synonymous.]

1. One of two or more words (commonly words of the same language) which are equivalents of each other; one of two or more words which have very nearly the same signification, and therefore may often be used interchangeably. See under Synonymous. [Written also synonyme.]

   All languages tend to clear themselves of synonyms as intellectual culture advances, the superfluous words being taken up and appropriated by new shades and combinations of thought evolved in the progress of society.
   --De Quincey.

   His name has thus become, throughout all civilized countries, a synonym for probity and philanthropy.
   --Macaulay.

   In popular literary acceptation, and as employed in special dictionaries of such words, synonyms are words sufficiently alike in general signification to be liable to be confounded, but yet so different in special definition as to require to be distinguished.
   --G. P. Marsh.

2. An incorrect or incorrectly applied scientific name, as a new name applied to a species or genus already properly named, or a specific name preoccupied by that of another species of the same genus; -- so used in the system of nomenclature (which see) in which the correct scientific names of certain natural groups (usually genera, species, and subspecies) are regarded as determined by priority.

3. One of two or more words corresponding in meaning but of different languages; a heteronym. [Rare]

"word having the same sense as another," early 15c. (but usually in plural form before 18c., or, if singular, as synonyma), from Old French synonyme (12c.) and directly from Late Latin synonymum, from Greek synonymon "word having the same sense as another," noun use of neuter of synonymos "having the same name as, synonymous," from syn- "together, same" (see syn-) + onyma, Aeolic dialectal form of onoma "name" (see name (n.)).

n. 1 (context semantics sensu stricto with respect to a given word English) A word whose meaning is the same as that of another word. 2 (context semantics sensu lato with respect to a given word or phrase English) A word or phrase with a meaning that is the same as, or very similar to, another word or phrase. 3 (context zoology with respect to a name for a given taxon English) Any of the formal names for the taxon, including the valid name (i.e. the senior synonym). 4 (context botany with respect to a name for a given taxon English) Any name for the taxon, usually a validly published, formally accepted one, but often also an unpublished name. 5 (context databases English) An alternative (often shorter) name defined for an object in a database.

n. two words that can be interchanged in a context are said to be synonymous relative to that context [syn: equivalent word]

Synonym may refer to:

• Synonym, a word with an identical or very similar meaning to another word
• Synonym (taxonomy), a different scientific name used for a single taxon
• Synonym (database), an alias or alternate name for a table, view, sequence, or other schema objects in a database

A synonym is a word or phrase that means nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn ("with") and onoma ("name"). An example of synonyms are the words begin, start, commence, and initiate. Words can be synonymous when meant in certain senses, even if they are not synonymous in all of their senses. For example, if we talk about a long time or an extended time, long and extended are synonymous within that context. Synonyms with exact interchangeability share a seme or denotational sememe, whereas those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational or connotational sememe and thus overlap within a semantic field. Some academics call the former type cognitive synonyms to distinguish them from the latter type, which they call near-synonyms.

In the figurative sense, two words are sometimes said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation:

Metonymy can sometimes be a form of synonymy, as when, for example, the White House is used as a synonym of the administration in referring to the U.S. executive branch under a specific president. Thus a metonym is a type of synonym, and the word metonym is a hyponym of the word synonym.

The analysis of synonymy, polysemy, and hyponymy and hypernymy is vital to taxonomy and ontology in the information-science senses of those terms. It has applications in pedagogy and machine learning, because they rely on word-sense disambiguation and schema.

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name, although zoologists use the term somewhat differently. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name (under the currently used system of scientific nomenclature) to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies. This name is no longer in use: it is now a synonym of the current scientific name which is Picea abies.

Unlike synonyms in other contexts, in taxonomy a synonym is not interchangeable with the name of which it is a synonym. In taxonomy, synonyms are not equals, but have a different status. For any taxon with a particular circumscription, position, and rank, only one scientific name is considered to be the correct one at any given time (this correct name is to be determined by applying the relevant code of nomenclature). A synonym is always the synonym of a different scientific name and cannot exist in isolation. Given that the correct name of a taxon depends on the taxonomic viewpoint used (resulting in a particular circumscription, position and rank) a name that is one taxonomist's synonym may be another taxonomist's correct name (and vice versa).

Synonyms may arise whenever the same taxon is described and named more than once, independently. They may also arise when existing taxa are changed, as when two taxa are joined to become one, a species is moved to a different genus, a variety is moved to a different species, etc.

A synonym is an alias or alternate name for a table, view, sequence, or other schema object. They are used mainly to make it easy for users to access database objects owned by other users. They hide the underlying object's identity and make it harder for a malicious program or user to target the underlying object. Because a synonym is just an alternate name for an object, it requires no storage other than its definition. When an application uses a synonym, the DBMS forwards the request to the synonym's underlying base object. By coding your programs to use synonyms instead of database object names, you insulate yourself from any changes in the name, ownership, or object locations. If you frequently refer to a database object that has a long name, you might appreciate being able to refer to it with a shorter name without having to rename it and alter the code referring to it.

Synonyms are very powerful from the point of view of allowing users access to objects that do not lie within their schema. All synonyms have to be created explicitly with the CREATE SYNONYM command and the underlying objects can be located in the same database or in other databases that are connected by .

There are two major uses of synonyms:

• Object invisibility: Synonyms can be created to keep the original object hidden from the user.
• Location invisibility: Synonyms can be created as aliases for tables and other objects that are not part of the local database.

When you create a table or a procedure, it is created in your schema, and other users can access it only by using your schema name as a prefix to the object's name. The way around for this is for the schema owner creates a synonym with the same name as the table name.