| synonym |
| Definition:
A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. Note: If two words have exactly the same meaning in all contexts, such that they can be used interchangeably, they are exact synonyms . |
| Example: sick and ill |
| Etymology: The word derives via Latin from the Greek synonymon, word having the same sense as another (from syn, same + onyma, name) |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first OED citation is from about 1450: "Isidorus … lefte noble werkes … as the books of his Ethimologies, … of the ordre of creatures, sinonymes, and mony oþer þinges."
(Higden (Rolls) VI. 51) |