Standard Lemma guide

monosemy

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈmɒ.nə(ʊ)ˌsiː.mi/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The property of terms of having a single meaning; absence of ambiguity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences, semantics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Singularity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literary, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

having a single meaning (absence of ambiguity) usually of individual words or phrases

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: polysemy

Broader terms: clarity, lucidity, lucidness, pellucidity, clearness, limpidity

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: monosèmia — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單義性 /单义性 (dānyìxìng) — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Czech: monosémie — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Finnish: monosemia — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Finnish: yksimerkityksisyys — property of terms of having single meaning
  • French: monosémie — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Galician: monosemia — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Georgian: ერთმნიშვნელოვნება (ertmnišvnelovneba) — property of terms of having single meaning
  • German: Eindeutigkeit — property of terms of having single meaning
  • German: Monosemie — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Irish: aonchiallachas — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Polish: monosemia — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Russian: моносеми́я (monosemíja) — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Russian: однозна́чность (odnoznáčnostʹ) — property of terms of having single meaning
  • Spanish: monosemia — property of terms of having single meaning