onomasiology

[on-uh-mey-see-ol-uh-jee, -mey-zee-]

noun

the study of the means of expressing a given concept.

Origin of onomasiology

1930–35; < German Onomasiologie, equivalent to Greek ônomasí(a) name, expression (derivative of ónoma, ónyma name) + -o- -o- + -logie -logy

Related formson·o·ma·si·o·log·ic

[on-uh-mey-see-uh-loj-ik, -mey-zee-] /ˌɒn əˌmeɪ si əˈlɒdʒ ɪk, -ˌmeɪ zi-/, on·o·ma·si·o·log·i·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for onomasiology

onomasiology

noun

another name for onomastics (def. 1)

the branch of semantics concerned with the meanings of and meaning relations between individual words

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012