word sense
- noun
- /wɜrd sɛns/
- Specialized
:
sentido
- The teacher explained the different word senses of 'bank' to help students understand its meanings.
Examples
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Each word sense can change depending on the context in which the word is used.
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In linguistics, understanding multiple word senses is essential for accurate interpretation of texts.
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Comprehension of word senses in isolation is studied far more often than comprehension of full-bodied speaker meaning.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
∞
4.1
A particular meaning of a word or expression
890
1.0
An idea a word or sign shows
314
4.4
An explanation of what something means
2
7.7
The meaning that a word, sign, or symbol expresses
An accepted meaning of a word in a certain situation
The idea a word gives about someone, something, or an action
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a distinct meaning of a word' is directly compositional from 'word' (a lexical item) + 'sense' (meaning), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer it. This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g., 'sentido de la palabra', 'sens du mot') and follows standard noun–noun composition, making it transparent.
Etymology
Word sense comes from the simple image of a word that can have different senses, like a person putting on different masks to show different meanings. So, a 'word sense' means one specific meaning of a word.