Synonym. Antonym. Homonym. We have all heard of these. And maybe you have heard of this one, but frankly I hadn’t: contronym.
But wait! When I started to research this post, I discovered that there are boatloads of words that end in –nym, which looks like, sounds like, and means name. Ah, there’s one! Pseudonym (false name or pen name).
Anyhow, I guess if you are a champion Scrabble player, you might know many words that end in –nym, but I guess I never really thought about it. When I taught seventh grade English, one of the most fun things we did was study Greek and Latin roots. Most of them were actually prefixes. I would put a few on the board (this is back before tech took over), and the students listed all the words they cold think of with that prefix or root (and we did a few suffixes). But -nym, for some reason, wasn’t on my list. We studied pseudo (pseudonym), anti (antonym), homo (homonym — and yes, the kids did twitter about that one, since they were twelve ), syn (synonym), and contr (contronym), but not –nym.
And now, since I discovered that there are boatloads of strange words that end in –nym, I will have to talk about them in future posts. But for today:
Synonym – Why you need a Thesaurus. Syn means same or together. We all know what synonyms are, and writers need them! Mad, angry, irate, furious are all synonyms.
Antonym -The opposite of synonym. Anti means against, so these words are opposites. Old and young, hot and cold, dark and light, etc.
Homonym – Words that sound the same and are spelled the same, but have different meanings. Wait! Then what is a homophone? Words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Many times, the distinction is not made, and they are all called homonyms. But technically —
- Homophones: bare/bear, board/bored, clothes/close, bizarre/bazaar
- Homonyms: train (to teach)/train (a locomotive), play (something acted on a stage)/play (to have fun)
We already mentioned the common word pseudonym. Another common one is acronym. An acronym consists of initials of something that then is pronounced as its own word: NASA and NATO are examples.
Contr/contra means opposite (contrary, controversy). So a contronym is a word that has two opposing meanings. Here are some examples:
Bolt: To secure–or to flee
Bound: Heading somewhere–or restrained from movement
Cleave: To adhere to -or to separate from
Dollop: A large amount (British English)–or a small amount
Fast: Quick–or stuck
Finished: Completed–or destroyed
First degree: Most severe (murder charge)–or least severe (a burn)
Fix: To repair–or to castrate
Hold up: To support–or to get in the way of
Left: Remained–or departed
Out: Visible (stars)–or invisible (lights)
Overlook: To supervise–or to neglect
Rent: To purchase use of something–or to sell use
Rock: An immobile mass of stone –or a shaking movement
Sanction: To approve–or to boycott
Seed: To sow seeds–or to remove them
Skinned: Covered with skin–or with the skin removed
Strike: To hit–or to miss in an attempt to hit
Throw out: To dispose of–or to present for consideration
Trim: To decorate–or to remove excess from
Trip: A journey–or a stumble
Wear: To endure– or to deteriorate
Wind up: To end–or to start up
A little more obscure than synonyms and antonyms, huh?
And a little like oxymorons.
Stay safe. Wear a mask.
And I thought I was the only grammar-nut on the Internet… nice to see I’m not alone… 🙂
Oh, you are not alone! We are right there with you!
Here’s another contronym for you: “vet”
It means to examine thoroughly (as in ‘positive vetting’) but it also means the sort of thing that happens to a Tom Cat (just once!)
Are those opposite?????? It is a little indirect unless I am missing something.
Hey, I found another contronym to add to your list… Compromise. What do you think?
Yes, that is a good one. They are all a little obscure…but if you think about it.
Àpropos ‘clothes/close, bizarre/bazaar’. Perhaps we should consider them as near-homophones, since there is a slight but clear distinction between them: [kləʊðz] vs. [kləʊz] – [ð] elided in inarticulate or rapid speech (?) and [bɪˈzɑː(r)] vs. [bəˈzɑː(r)]. Same thing, or perhaps the way I had to pronounce them when I studied English: British RP (the “King’s English”, if you like).
There is a slight difference in pronunciation, perhaps, but most people pronounce them the same (and even use the wrong one), so for all “intensive purposes,” they are homophones.
Very very interesting. Thanks Grammer Diva.
You are very welcome!
When reading about acronyms, I thought of “TV.” It’s an acronym that has been expanded back into a word: TV = teevee. MC = emcee. Is there a name for such terms?
Good point. I don’t know. Will try to find out.
Some people call it an acronomatopoeia.
Fascinating! I have never heard of a contronym nor really recognized the concept of so many words with opposite meanings! Thank you!
I had never heard of them either. You are welcome!