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In the English language, we might write the following question:

"what does the word dog mean"?

What is the Latin word for "meaning"?

By "meaning" I mean the "definition of a spoken or written word"

I am not looking for the Latin word for:

  • a meaningful painting on canvas
  • a spiritual meaning pertaining to god, souls, ghosts, or deamons.
  • a mean dog
  • a mean spirited teenager
  • meaning, as in one's life quest or purpose, contentment, or fulfillment.

How do people say, "the words rock and stone have the same meaning?"

A pair of words are homographically equivalent if they are spelled the same way, but spelling is not meaning.

A pair of words are homophonically equivalent if and only if the two words are pronounced the same way, such as "know" and "no".

How do you say that two words have the same meaning?

  • The two words are Homo-fineic"?
  • The words "stone" and "rock" represent a "homo-gignesthaic" pair.
  • The words "couch" and "sofa" are homo destinares.
  • The words "no" and "know" are not equivalent in meaning. They are not homo signum ficare.
brianpck
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Samuel Muldoon
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    Are you looking for a verb? "Volo" and "significo" are some equivalent. You can download the Lewis and Short app, even the Scriba. –  Feb 08 '23 at 16:38
  • @Manuel Volo is absolutely not an appropriate translation for 'mean' in the sense of 'signify'. Please actually read the entry instead of just searching for a word. – Cairnarvon Feb 08 '23 at 17:57
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    @Cairnarvon "Quid sibi vult" is actually a pretty standard way of saying "signify/mean," but you're right that it rarely means this when used alone. – brianpck Feb 08 '23 at 18:01
  • Not sure why this question got so many down votes. Speak up in the comments, anyone, if you see a problem with it. Thanks. – Figulus Feb 09 '23 at 21:13

1 Answers1

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The most common word I've seen for that is significāre; I've both heard and used the phrase quid significat ___? ("what does ___ mean?") countless times in Latin classes.

The second part of your question has nothing to do with Latin—it's about English words borrowed from Greek—but the standard word for that is "synonymous".

Draconis
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