Definition:
Synonyms are symbols that have exactly precisely accurately identical meaning.
Antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word.
An autoantonym, also known as contronym or Janus word, is a word that has two opposite meanings. In other words; autoantonyms are words that act as their own autoantonym.
Etymology:
The word “synonym” comes from the Ancient Greek word “synōnymos,” which is composed of two parts: “syn-” meaning “together” or “with,” and “onyma,” a form of “onoma,” meaning “name.” Therefore, the literal translation of “synonym” is “with the same name” or “sharing the same name.”
The word “antonym” comes from the Greek word “antonymia,” which is derived from “anti-” meaning “opposite” and “onyma,” a form of “onoma,” meaning “name.” Thus, the literal translation of “antonym” is “opposite name.”
The word “autoantonym,” also known as a contronym or Janus word, is a combination of the prefix “auto-” meaning “self” or “same,” and “antonym,” which, as previously discussed, comes from the Greek “anti-” meaning “opposite” and “onyma” meaning “name.” Thus, “autoantonym” translates to “a word that is its own opposite.”
Description:
The word “same” and “similar” are really the same word because nothing can be 100% the same as something else. It is only in our imagination that we can imagine that different things are 100% the same thing. We can imagine that these words are different, but then these words would not be accurate to describe how things actually are. The words “similar” and “same” are both similar to each other, and the same as each other.
Synonyms are a group of words that symbolize each other. Synonyms can be used to define words in the hope that the learner has already heard the meaning of at least one of the synonyms before.
The word antonym is an antonym of the word synonym. In other words; the word synonym is an antonym of the word antonym.
The principle of polarity teaches us that the is nothing that exists that is 100% the opposite of anything else that exists. It is only in our imagination that we can imagine that something is 100% the opposite of something else. So we use words like “opposite” and “reverse” for faster communication, but they are not accurate descriptions of how things actually are.
For example, we say “sure” when we assume that what is being said is accurate, and we also say “sure” when we do not believe what is being said is accurate. We often say “literally” when we don’t mean “literally” literally. We often ask “right?” to get confirmation that the person we are talking to understands what we are saying. Right?… (In Norway they often say “not true?” instead of “right?”).
The great secret of esoteric language is that absolutely all words that have an antonym are actually autoantonyms.
Examples of Synonyms:
- Beautiful: pretty, lovely, gorgeous, attractive.
- Fast: quick, speedy, swift, rapid.
- Happy: joyful, elated, pleased, delighted.
Examples of Antonyms:
- Big – Small.
- Cold – Hot.
- Easy – Difficult.
- Old – Young.
- Poor – Rich.
Examples of Autoantonyms:
- Dust: can mean to add dust (as in “dusting crops with pesticide”) or to remove dust (as in “dusting the furniture”).
- Free: can mean “unrestricted” or “liberated”, or “no cost”. A person of “no cost” is synonymous with being a slave.
- Left: can mean remaining (e.g., “They are the only ones left.”) or departed (e.g., “He left the room.”).
- Oversight: can mean careful supervision or an unintentional failure to notice something.
- Peace: can mean “no noise”, or “war” (as in e.g. “peacekeeping force” which involve armed forces that tend to lead to combat situations). “Peace” is also a polysemy of the word “piece” which is a slang word meaning “gun.”
- Sanction: can mean “to permit” or “to penalize”.
- Seed: can mean to sow seeds or to remove seeds (as in “to seed a tomato”).