Two terms are synonyms when they have the same meaning.
From the Latin synonymus , the term synonym is an adjective that is used to express that one word has the same or very similar meaning as another . Two words are synonyms, therefore, when they mean the same thing.
The semantic relationship of identity or similarity of meanings is known as synonymy . It should be noted that synonyms belong to the same grammatical category. It is possible to distinguish between strict synonyms and contextual synonyms .
Types of synonyms
Strict synonyms are those words that have exactly the same meaning in any context. The terms in question, therefore, are interchangeable. For example: husband / husband ( "I'm waiting for my husband to get home from work to go shopping" , "I'm waiting for my husband to get home from work to go shopping" ).
Contextual synonyms , on the other hand, are words of equivalent meaning in certain situations: road / road ( "The road to the beach is closed" , "The road to the beach is closed" , "I was injured for a while: it has been a long time since "I don't walk that many blocks," "I'm sending you a gift via your mother."
However, we cannot forget what is called connotation synonymy . This is an expression that is used to refer to all those terms that are clearly related to each other but whose "union" is subject to subjective evaluations. This translates into the objective meaning disappearing.
Other synonyms are dialect variants , whose meaning is the same although certain words are not frequently used in a given linguistic community: car / car / auto / automobile .
"Husband" and "husband" are synonyms.
Different intensities
There are also synonyms of similar meaning although with differences in degree: drizzle / rain / deluge . These synonyms have different intensity.
Drizzle is light precipitation, rain implies a greater amount of water, and deluge is a storm of maximum intensity. Expressions like "On the day of the trip it rained very hard" or "On the day of the trip there was a flood" are synonymous.
Synonyms and antonyms
It is important to emphasize that almost necessarily when we talk about the term synonym, its opposite comes to mind: the concept of antonym . We can say that the latter is a word that is used to refer, within the linguistic field, to all those words that express totally opposite things.
Examples of antonyms can be: light and dark; high and low; fat and skinny; before and after; up and down; outside or inside...
Such is the union that synonyms and antonyms have within the language that it is common for us to find dictionaries that deal with both. And both are not only a good example of the richness of the language but also become great tools, mainly for authors, when it comes to writing and not being repetitive.
And that is one of the keys that it is considered that every good writer must have, whether a narrator or a poet. In this way, you will offer a work full of quality with which you will undoubtedly be able to reach the reader and demonstrate your extensive linguistic knowledge.