semantics

See also: semàntics

English

Etymology

From French sémantique, displacing earlier semasiology. From Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós). By surface analysis, semantic +‎ -ics.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪˈmæntɪks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

semantics (countable and uncountable, plural semantics)

1. (linguistics) A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words. [1893]

   Semantics is a foundation of lexicography.

2. The study of the relationship between words and their meanings.
   • 2006, Patrick Blackburn, Johan Bos, Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 March 2015, section 8.1:

     In fact, nowadays a lot is known about the semantics of natural languages, and it is surprisingly easy to build semantic representations which partially capture the meaning of sentences or even entire discourses.

3. The individual meanings of words, as opposed to the overall meaning of a passage.

   The semantics of the terms used are debatable.

   The semantics of a single preposition is a dissertation in itself.

4. (computer science) The meaning of computer language constructs, in contrast to their form or syntax.

   file sharing and locking semantics

5. (loosely, colloquial, of a detail or distinction) Pettiness or triviality.

Derived terms

• algebraic semantics
• applied semantics
• axiomatic semantics
• computational semantics
• denotational semantics
• distributional semantics
• formal semantics
• general semantics
• lexical semantics
• mathematical semantics
• minimal recursion semantics
• operational semantics
• semantics-free
• statistical semantics

Related terms

• semantic
• semantisation
• semasiology
• sematic
• sematology
• seme
• sememe
• semiotic
• semiotics

Translations

science of the meaning of words

• Afrikaans: semantiek
• Albanian: semantikë (sq) f
• Arabic: عِلْم اَلْمَعَانِي m (ʕilm al-maʕānī)
• Armenian: իմաստաբանություն (hy) (imastabanutʻyun)
• Asturian: semántica f
• Belarusian: сема́нтыка f (sjemántyka)
• Catalan: semàntica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 語義學 / 语义学 (zh) (yǔyìxué)

• Czech: sémantika (cs) f
• Danish: semantik (da) c
• Dutch: semantiek (nl) f, betekenisleer f
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitysoppi (fi)
• French: sémantique (fr) f
• Georgian: სემანტიკა (semanṭiḳa)
• German: Bedeutungslehre (de), Semantik (de) f
• Hebrew: תורת המשמעים f (torát hamashmaím), סמנטיקה (he) f (semántika)
• Hungarian: szemantika (hu), jelentéstan (hu)
• Icelandic: merkingarfræði (is) f
• Indonesian: semantik (id)
• Japanese: 意味論 (ja) (いみろん, imiron)
• Khmer: និឃណ្ដសាស្ត្រ (ni’kʰoanda’sah)
• Korean: 의미론(意味論) (ko) (uimiron)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: watenasî (ku) f

• Latvian: semantika (lv) f
• Mongolian: утгазүй (utgazüj)
• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Persian: علم معانی ('elm ma'âni), معنی‌شناسی (ma'ni-šenâsi)
• Polish: semantyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Romanian: semantică (ro) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Slovene: pomenoslovje (sl) n
• Spanish: semántica (es) f
• Swahili: semantiki (sw)
• Swedish: semantik (sv) c, betydelselära c
• Tagalog: semantika, paladiwaan
• Thai: อรรถศาสตร์
• Turkish: anlambilim (tr)
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa học (vi) (語義學)
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f, sinsyince (wa) f

study of the relationship between words and their meanings

• Danish: semantik (da) c, betydningslære c
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitysoppi (fi)
• Hebrew: תורת המשמעים f (torát hamashmaím), סמנטיקה (he) f (semántika)
• Khmer: និឃណ្ដសាស្ត្រ (ni’kʰoanda’sah)
• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Polish: semantyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Swahili: semantiki (sw)
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa học (vi) (語義學)
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f

individual meanings of words

• Danish: semantik (da) c
• Finnish: semantiikka (fi), merkitys (fi), merkityssisältö
• Hebrew: משמעות (he) f (mashmaút), סמנטיקה (he) f (semántika)
• Norwegian: semantikk (no) m
• Portuguese: semântica (pt) f
• Russian: сема́нтика (ru) f (semántika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сема̀нтика f

  Roman: semàntika (sh) f

• Turkish: anlam (tr)
• Vietnamese: ngữ nghĩa (語義)
• Walloon: semantike (wa) f, sinifiance f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} semantiek (nl) f
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} semantica
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} semantica (it) f
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} semantika f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} semantikk (no) c
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} معنی‌شناسی (ma'ni-šenâsi)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} semantik (sv) c

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of semantics

Further reading

• “semantics”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• amnestics