semantic

Sometimes se·man·ti·cal

[si-man-tik]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or arising from the different meanings of words or other symbols.

   semantic change; semantic confusion.

2. of or relating to semantics.

semantic

/ sɪˈmæntɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to meaning or arising from distinctions between the meanings of different words or symbols

2. of or relating to semantics

3. logic concerned with the interpretation of a formal theory, as when truth tables are given as an account of the sentential connectives

Other Word Forms

• semantically adverb
• nonsemantic adjective
• pseudosemantic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of semantic¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek sēmantikós “having meaning,” equivalent to sēmant(ós) “marked” ( sēman-, base of sēmaínein “to show, mark” + -tos verbal adjective suffix; akin to sêma “sign”) + -ikos -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of semantic¹

C19: from Greek sēmantikos having significance, from sēmainein to signify, from sēma a sign

Example Sentences

But the distinction feels like a retreat into semantics — or what Orwell might refer to as “doublespeak.”

Read more on Salon

“You can get into semantics,” he said, “but the bottom line is whether the department used all of the tools available to put the Jan. 1 fire out. And it did not.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Ordinary people don't care about the semantics, they want to see punishment, and public opinion is very much against Andrew, the Palace knows that, and the language very much reflect that".

Read more on BBC

But we don't need to parse his semantic description of the exchange to know that this was not the meeting that the Ukrainian side had been expecting.

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They can be short-term or long-term, semantic or episodic.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• linguistic