- a word that means the same or nearly the same as another word, such as bucket and pail
- a word or phrase used as another name for something, such as Hellene for a Greek
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
syn•o•nym /ˈsɪnənɪm/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the language, as joyful in relation to elated and glad.
syn•o•nym
(sin′ə nim),USA pronunciation n.
syn′o•nym′ic, syn′o•nym′i•cal, adj.
syn•o•nym•i•ty
(sin′ə nim′i tē),USA pronunciation n.
- a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the language, as joyful, elated, glad.
- a word or expression accepted as another name for something, as Arcadia for pastoral simplicity; metonym.
- Biologyone of two or more scientific names applied to a single taxon.
- Latin, as above
- Middle French
- Greek synó̄nymon, noun, nominal use of neuter of synó̄nymos synonymous; replacing Middle English sinonyme
- Latin synōnymum
- 1400–50
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
synonym /ˈsɪnəˌnɪm/ n