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Synonym
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<p>A synonym is a <a href="/facts/Word/UXNbIy5y">word</a>, <a href="/facts/Morpheme/4JNcPMHs">morpheme</a>, or <a href="/facts/Phrase/mbnD0ksH">phrase</a> that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English language</a>, the words <i>begin</i>, <i>start</i>, <i>commence</i>, and <i>initiate</i> are all synonyms of one another: they are <i>synonymous</i>. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning. </p><p>Words may often be synonymous in only one particular <a href="/facts/Word_sense/9IR1286V">sense</a>: for example, <i>long</i> and <i>extended</i> in the <a href="/facts/Context_(language_use)/eJM44o7x">context</a> <i>long time</i> or <i>extended time</i> are synonymous, but <i>long</i> cannot be used in the phrase <i>extended family</i>. </p><p>Synonyms with exactly the same meaning share a <a href="/facts/Seme_(semantics)/hTrtyVCI">seme</a> or denotational <a href="/facts/Sememe/u47uQkr1">sememe</a>, whereas those with inexactly similar meanings share a broader denotational or <a href="/facts/Connotation/6GMwFTn9">connotational</a> sememe and thus overlap within a <a href="/facts/Semantic_field/dBzpq7cc">semantic field</a>. The former are sometimes called <a href="/facts/Cognitive_synonymy/Wj14JnP5">cognitive synonyms</a> and the latter, near-synonyms, plesionyms or poecilonyms. </p>