word
A word is a unit of language that native speakers can agree upon as a separate and distinct unit of meaning. Languages are made up of words. You must like words since you are here, on this word site.
If you say “What’s the good word?” you’re not actually asking for a word — you’re asking, “How are you?” or “What’s doing?” But if you ask “What’s the word on that restaurant?” you’re asking for an opinion. You can also “give your word,” but that means that you’re promising something; you’re giving an oath. If your friend asks what you think of his girlfriend, you may want to word your response carefully — to watch your words.
Definitions of word
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
“words are the blocks from which sentences are made”“he hardly said ten
words all morning”-
types:
- show 90 types…
- hide 90 types…
-
anagrama word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase
-
anaphora word (such as a pronoun) used to avoid repetition; the referent of an anaphor is determined by its antecedent
-
antonym, opposite, opposite worda word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
-
back-formationa word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it
-
charadea word acted out in an episode of the game of charades
-
cognate, cognate worda word is cognate with another if both derive from the same word in an ancestral language
-
content word, open-class worda word to which an independent meaning can be assigned
-
contractiona word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds
-
deictic, deictic worda word specifying identity or spatial or temporal location from the perspective of a speaker or hearer in the context in which the communication occurs
-
derivative(linguistics) a word that is derived from another word
-
diminutivea word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin) to indicate smallness
-
dirty worda word that is considered to be unmentionable
-
dissyllable, disyllablea word having two syllables
-
descriptor, form, signifier, word formthe phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something
-
four-letter Anglo-Saxon word, four-letter wordany of several short English words (often having 4 letters) generally regarded as obscene or offensive
-
closed-class word, function worda word that is uninflected and serves a grammatical function but has little identifiable meaning
-
catchword, guide word, guideworda word printed at the top of the page of a dictionary or other reference book to indicate the first or last item on that page
-
head, head word(grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent
-
headworda word placed at the beginning of a line or paragraph (as in a dictionary entry)
-
heteronymtwo words are heteronyms if they are spelled the same way but differ in pronunciation
-
holonym, whole namea word that names the whole of which a given word is a part
-
homonymtwo words are homonyms if they are pronounced or spelled the same way but have different meanings
-
hypernym, superordinate, superordinate worda word that is more generic than a given word
-
hyponym, subordinate, subordinate worda word that is more specific than a given word
-
key worda significant word used in indexing or cataloging
-
hybrid, loan-blend, loanblenda word that is composed of parts from different languages (e.g., `monolingual’ has a Greek prefix and a Latin root)
-
loan, loanworda word borrowed from another language; e.g. `blitz’ is a German word borrowed into modern English
-
meronym, part namea word that names a part of a larger whole
-
metonyma word that denotes one thing but refers to a related thing
-
monosyllabic word, monosyllablea word or utterance of one syllable
-
coinage, neologism, neologya newly invented word or phrase
-
hapax legomenon, nonce worda word with a special meaning used for a special occasion
-
oxytoneword having stress or an acute accent on the last syllable
-
palindromea word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward
-
primitivea word serving as the basis for inflected or derived forms
-
paroxytoneword having stress or acute accent on the next to last syllable
-
partitiveword (such a `some’ or `less’) that is used to indicate a part as distinct from a whole
-
polysemant, polysemantic word, polysemous worda word having more than one meaning
-
polysyllabic word, polysyllablea word of more than three syllables
-
proparoxytoneword having stress or acute accent on the antepenult
-
quantifier(grammar) a word that expresses a quantity (as `fifteen’ or `many’)
-
logical quantifier, quantifier(logic) a word (such as `some’ or `all’ or `no’) that binds the variables in a logical proposition
-
reduplicationa word formed by or containing a repeated syllable or speech sound (usually at the beginning of the word)
-
retronyma word introduced because an existing term has become inadequate
-
substantiveany word or group of words functioning as a noun
-
equivalent word, synonymtwo words that can be interchanged in a context are said to be synonymous relative to that context
-
terma word or expression used for some particular thing
-
language, nomenclature, terminologya system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
-
trisyllablea word having three syllables
-
manner name, troponyma word that denotes a manner of doing something
-
spoken word, vocablea word that is spoken aloud
-
classifiera word or morpheme used in some languages in certain contexts (such as counting) to indicate the semantic class to which the counted item belongs
-
written wordthe written form of a word
-
syncategorem, syncategoremea syncategorematic expression; a word that cannot be used alone as a term in a logical proposition
-
verbala noun or adjective that is formed from a verb
-
blend, portmanteau, portmanteau worda new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings
-
head word, headworda content word that can be qualified by a modifier
-
Latinisma word or phrase borrowed from Latin
-
antigraman anagram that means the opposite of the original word or phrase
-
plural, plural formthe form of a word that is used to denote more than one
-
singular, singular formthe form of a word that is used to denote a singleton
-
ghost worda word form that has entered the language through the perpetuation of an error
-
base, radical, root, root word, stem, theme(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
-
etymon, roota simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes
-
citation form, entry word, main entry wordthe form of a word that heads a lexical entry and is alphabetized in a dictionary
-
existential operator, existential quantifiera logical quantifier of a proposition that asserts the existence of at least one thing for which the proposition is true
-
universal quantifiera logical quantifier of a proposition that asserts that the proposition is true for all members of a class of things
-
jawbreakera word that is hard to pronounce
-
sesquipedalia, sesquipedaliana very long word (a foot and a half long)
-
direct antonymantonyms that are commonly associated (e.g., `wet’ and `dry’)
-
indirect antonymantonyms whose opposition is mediated (e.g., the antonymy of `wet’ and `parched’ is mediated by the similarity of `parched’ to `dry’)
-
nouna content word that can be used to refer to a person, place, thing, quality, or action
-
verba content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence
-
modifier, qualifiera content word that qualifies the meaning of a noun or verb
-
determinative, determinerone of a limited class of noun modifiers that determine the referents of noun phrases
-
prepositiona function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word
-
pronouna function word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase
-
conjunction, conjunctive, connective, continuativean uninflected function word that serves to conjoin words or phrases or clauses or sentences
-
particlea function word that can be used in English to form phrasal verbs
-
bigrama word that is written with two letters in an alphabetic writing system
-
trigrama word that is written with three letters in an alphabetic writing system
-
tetragrama word that is written with four letters in an alphabetic writing system
-
referentsomething that refers; a term that refers to another term
-
markup languagea set of symbols and rules for their use when doing a markup of a document
-
toponomy, toponymythe nomenclature of regional anatomy
-
Gallicisma word or phrase borrowed from French
-
abbreviationa shortened form of a word or phrase
-
acronyma word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name
-
homographtwo words are homographs if they are spelled the same way but differ in meaning (e.g. fair)
-
homophonetwo words are homophones if they are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning or spelling or both (e.g. bare and bear)
-
type of:
-
language unit, linguistic unitone of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzed
a brief statement
“he didn’t say a
word about it”-
type of:
-
statementa message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc
-
statement
a verbal command for action
“when I give the
word, charge!”-
type of:
-
order(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
-
order
an exchange of views on some topic
“we had a
word or two about it”-
synonyms:
discussion, give-and-take-
types:
- show 25 types…
- hide 25 types…
-
argument, argumentation, debatea discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal
-
deliberation(usually plural) discussion of all sides of a question
-
conference, group discussiona discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic
-
panel discussiondiscussion of a subject of public interest by a group of persons forming a panel usually before an audience
-
post-mortem, postmortemdiscussion of an event after it has occurred
-
public discussion, ventilationfree and open discussion of (or debate on) some question of public interest
-
dialogue, negotiation, talksa discussion intended to produce an agreement
-
logomachyargument about words or the meaning of words
-
parleya negotiation between enemies
-
bull sessionan informal discussion (usually among men)
-
colloquya conversation especially a formal one
-
consultationa conference between two or more people to consider a particular question
-
audience, consultation, interviewa conference (usually with someone important)
-
huddle, powwow(informal) a quick private conference
-
news conference, press conferencea conference at which press and tv reporters ask questions of a politician or other celebrity
-
pretrial, pretrial conference(law) a conference held before the trial begins to bring the parties together to outline discovery proceedings and to define the issues to be tried; more useful in civil than in criminal cases
-
round table, round-table conference, roundtablea meeting of peers for discussion and exchange of views
-
sessiona meeting for execution of a group’s functions
-
teach-inan extended session (as on a college campus) for lectures and discussion on an important and usually controversial issue
-
teleconference, teleconferencinga conference of people who are in different locations that is made possible by the use of such telecommunications equipment as closed-circuit television
-
diplomacy, diplomatic negotiationsnegotiation between nations
-
bargainingthe negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement
-
collective bargainingnegotiation between an employer and a trade union
-
horse tradingnegotiation accompanied by mutual concessions and shrewd bargaining
-
mediationa negotiation to resolve differences that is conducted by some impartial party
-
type of:
-
language, oral communication, speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication(language) communication by word of mouth
a promise
“he gave his
word”-
synonyms:
parole, word of honor-
type of:
-
promisea verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future
-
promise
a secret word or phrase known only to a restricted group
-
synonyms:
countersign, parole, password, watchword-
type of:
-
arcanum, secretinformation known only to a special group
-
positive identificationevidence proving that you are who you say you are; evidence establishing that you are among the group of people already known to the system; recognition by the system leads to acceptance
-
arcanum, secret
information about recent and important events
-
synonyms:
intelligence, news, tidings-
types:
-
good wordgood news
-
latestthe most recent news or development
-
updatenews that updates your information
-
type of:
-
info, informationa message received and understood
-
good word
a word is a string of bits stored in computer memory
“large computers use
words up to 64 bits long”-
type of:
-
computer memory unita unit for measuring computer memory
-
computer memory unit
put into words or an expression
-
synonyms:
articulate, formulate, give voice, phrase-
types:
- show 5 types…
- hide 5 types…
-
askdirect or put; seek an answer to
-
lexicalise, lexicalizemake or coin into a word or accept a new word into the lexicon of a language
-
dogmatise, dogmatizestate as a dogma
-
formularise, formularizeexpress as a formula
-
cast, couch, frame, put, redactformulate in a particular style or language
Word Family