semanticismn.
/sᵻˈmantᵻsɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /səˈmæn(t)əˌsɪz(ə)m/ Any theory or method which places primary importance on semantics; (excessive) emphasis on meaning; an instance of this. In quot. 1940: the theory that a person's actions and behaviour are more meaningful, and better indicators of intentions, than what he or she says.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > [noun]
semasiology1857
sematology1880
semantics1886
semology1911
semanticism1940
1940 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 5 21 The current vogue of semanticism and Paretoism leads some to draw questionable inferences from these systems of thought.
1942 Jrnl. Philos. 39 182 It would be stultifying to conform to the dicta of popular semanticism, such as that for every significant word there must be a referend capable of being directly experienced.
1951 Theology 54 272 To exclude all mention of Logical Positivism and Semanticism on the Continent and in the United States.
1969 Man 4 469/2 Its attempts to marry structuralisme with semanticism.
1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts Nov. 782/2 There was a semanticism about the very best examples of [architecture in] the nineteenth century.
1987 J. D. Caputo Radical Hermeneutics 149 Derrida wants to undermine the smug assurances of semanticism, to put into question the assumed priority of meaning.
2004 Atlantis 26 65 It seems necessary..to avoid extreme semanticism..and extreme syntacticism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1940