Semantic

How to spell semantic

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce semantic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does semantic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to meaning in language, or to the differences in meaning between words and phrases.

Semantic in a sentence

• The two clauses look identical, but a semantic difference changes the contract entirely.

• The editor flagged a semantic error where the wrong word had altered the sense of the report.

Where does semantic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek sēmantikos, meaning 'significant' or 'having meaning', which was formed from the verb sēmainein 'to signify, to show by a sign'. That verb in turn rested on the noun sēma, meaning a 'sign' or 'mark', the same ancient root that gives us 'semaphore' (signalling by flags) and the medical 'symptom' (a sign of illness). The term passed into modern use through the French sémantique, coined by the linguist Michel Bréal in the 1880s to name the study of how words carry meaning, and English adopted it around the same period. From this scholarly origin it broadened into everyday speech, where 'a semantic argument' now often dismisses a dispute as being merely about wording rather than substance. The spelling stays close to its Greek and French ancestry, with the 's' sounded softly and the 'a' in the middle reduced to a faint schwa, which is the spot where writers occasionally hesitate.

How the word is built

• semant- (from Greek sēmainein 'to signify', built on sēma 'sign, mark')
• -ic (adjective suffix)