semasiologyn.
/sᵻˌmeɪzɪˈɒlədʒi/, /sᵻˌmeɪsɪˈɒlədʒi/, U.S. /səˌmeɪsiˈɑlədʒi/, /səˌmeɪziˈɑlədʒi/ Linguistics.
1. The branch of linguistics concerned with meaning in language; the study of meaning, esp. meaning change; semantics. Now chiefly historical except as in sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > [noun]
semasiology1857
sematology1880
semantics1886
semology1911
semanticism1940
1857 J. W. Gibbs Philol. Stud. 18 The development of intellectual and moral ideas from physical, constitutes an important part of semasiology, or that branch of grammar which treats of the development of the meanings of words.
1877 R. Martineau tr. Goldziher Mythol. Hebrews iii. 43 Some phenomena in the semasiology of Arabic words.
1884 Athenæum 27 Sept. 395/1 Philology is now advancing towards a new branch having intimate relations with psychology, the so-called semasiology of Abel and others.
1935 Year's Work in Eng. Stud. 1933 48 Semasiology and morphology treated synchronically or diachronically.
1967 R. A. Waldron Sense & Sense Devel. vi. 114 The emergence of semasiology, as the historical study of semantic change is sometimes called.
1998 Ling. Inq. 29 292 The early theories of semasiology attempted to account for meaning shifts in language.
2. spec. The branch of semantics in which words and phrases are studied through the analysis of the various meanings they represent. As opposed to onomasiology (onomasiology n.), in which concepts are studied through the analysis of the various words and phrases that represent them. An example of a question in semasiology is ‘What does “old” mean?’ (with the answers ‘not young’, ‘not new’, etc.), while an example of a question in onomasiology is ‘What words and phrases are used to describe someone who is no longer young?’ (with the answers ‘old’, ‘elderly’, ‘over the hill’, etc.). Dictionaries are semasiological in orientation, while thesauruses are onomasiological.
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1921 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 20 183 By onomasiology..we mean that part of word study that asks ‘What is this thing called?’ rather than ‘What does this word mean?’ the latter being the province of semasiology.
1963 Mod. Lang. Rev. 58 277 The two branches of traditional semantics, semasiology and onomasiology.
1981 E. Vasiliu in R. Posner et al. Trends Romance Linguistics & Philol. II. 92 The point of departure of semasiology is the ‘signifiant’.
2004 R. Dirven et al. Cognitive Explor. Lang. & Linguistics (ed. 2) ii. 28 (heading) From words to meanings: Semasiology.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1857