Word.ws English Dictionary

polyseme

/ˈpɒ.lɪ.siːm/

polyseme noun: one whose multiple meanings are etymologically related.

Noun

polyseme (plural polysemes)

  1. (especially) One whose multiple meanings are etymologically related.
    Antonyms:
    monoseme
  2. (sometimes) One whose multiple meanings either are or aren't etymologically related.
    Synonyms:
    homonym
    Antonyms:
    monoseme

Adjective

polyseme

  1. Having multiple meanings.

Synonyms of polyseme

Antonyms

Forms of polyseme

pluralpolysemes

Origin of polyseme

From poly- + seme.

Questions about polyseme

What does polyseme mean?
Polyseme means one whose multiple meanings are etymologically related.
What part of speech is polyseme?
Polyseme can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce polyseme?
Polyseme is pronounced /ˈpɒ.lɪ.siːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of polyseme?
The plural of polyseme is polysemes.

Words near polyseme in the dictionary

  1. polyselfs
  2. polysemant
  3. polysemantic
  4. polysemantically
  5. polysemants
  6. polyseme
  7. polysemes
  8. polysemia
  9. polysemic
  10. polysemically
  11. polysemies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: polyseme (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-polyseme.wav.

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