Word.ws English Dictionary

paronomasia

/pæɹənɵˈmeɪzɪə/

paronomasia noun: a pun or play on words.

Noun

paronomasia (countable and uncountable, plural paronomasias)

  1. (rhetoric) A pun or play on words.
    • Oh, by the way, any attempt to present me with any kind of testimonial will result in stern measures.
      And when I say stern measures, I am indulging in a paronomasia, or play on words! Good night.1936 Ian Hay: Housemaster. London Hodder & Stoughton p. 234
    • Ev’rywhere but at Norfolk, where talk of Passion far outweighs its Enactment,– indeed, the Sailors’ paronomasia for that wretched Place,
      is ‘No-Fuck’.1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon
  2. (rhetoric) The use of puns.
    • Paronomasia to the sense alludes,
      When words but little varied it includes.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Turns.] Paronomasia.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 88
    • […] he gloomily regarded his new digital watch, faintly fascinated by the onward march of the square figures
      which turned one into the other with insolent ease, a kind of numerical paronomasia.1984, Anthony Burgess, Enderby's Dark Lady

paronomasia meaning in Tamil and Tagalog

paronomasia in Tamil

சிலேடை, இரட்டுறல், சொற்சிலம்பம், வார்த்தை விளையாட்டு

paronomasia in Tagalog

a pun or play on words
paritugma

Forms of paronomasia

pluralparonomasias

Origin of paronomasia

From Latin paronomasia, from Ancient Greek παρονομασία (paronomasía, “play upon words which sound alike”), from παρα- (para-) + ὀνομασία (onomasía, “naming”).

Questions about paronomasia

What does paronomasia mean?
Paronomasia means a pun or play on words.
What is paronomasia in Tamil?
Paronomasia in Tamil is சிலேடை, இரட்டுறல், சொற்சிலம்பம். See Paronomasia meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is paronomasia?
Paronomasia is a noun.
How do you pronounce paronomasia?
Paronomasia is pronounced /pæɹənɵˈmeɪzɪə/.
What is the plural of paronomasia?
The plural of paronomasia is paronomasias.

Words near paronomasia in the dictionary

  1. paromoiosis
  2. paromologia
  3. paromology
  4. paromomycin
  5. paronellid
  6. paronomasia
  7. paronomasiac
  8. paronomasiacs
  9. paronomasial
  10. paronomasian
  11. paronomasias

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paronomasia (page history and authors); paronomasia (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-paronomasia.wav.

Cite this entry: “paronomasia.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paronomasia. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.