Standard Lemma guide

paronomasia

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /pæɹənɵˈmeɪzɪə/
  • /pæɹənɵˈmeɪʒə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A pun or play on words.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The use of puns.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a humorous play on words

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I do it for the pun of it
  • his constant punning irritated her

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pun, punning, wordplay

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fun, play, sport

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: каламбур (kalambur) — a pun or play on words
  • Bulgarian: игра на думи (igra na dumi) — a pun or play on words
  • Catalan: paronomàsia — a pun or play on words
  • Esperanto: kalemburo — a pun or play on words
  • Esperanto: vortludo — a pun or play on words
  • French: paronomase — a pun or play on words
  • Ancient Greek: παρονομασία (paronomasía) — a pun or play on words
  • Italian: paronomasia — a pun or play on words
  • Latin: paronomasia — a pun or play on words
  • Polish: annominacja — a pun or play on words
  • Polish: paronomazja — a pun or play on words
  • Portuguese: paronomásia — a pun or play on words
  • Spanish: paronomasia — a pun or play on words
  • Spanish: agnominación — a pun or play on words
  • Swedish: paranomasi — a pun or play on words
  • Tagalog: paritugma — a pun or play on words