Polysemy
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28
CORE DEFINITION
Polysemy ( or; from Ancient Greek πολύ- (polý-) 'many' and σῆμα (sêma) 'sign') is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is the opposite of monosemy, which denotes a word with a single meaning.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
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Polysemy ( or; from Ancient Greek πολύ- (polý-) 'many' and σῆμα (sêma) 'sign') is the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example,
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In natural language, the same word carries different senses in different contexts; communication and retrieval must rely on context for disambiguation, otherwise ambiguity and misjudgment arise.
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemyverified
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