paronym

Jan. 18th, 2010 07:35 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (Default)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
paronym (PAR-uh-nim) - n., a word derived from the same root or stem as another word.


Or as some dictionaries define it, a paronymous word, which they do because the adjective arrived in English two centuries before the noun (1650-ish versus 1846), even though in Greek the equivalent adjective is derived from the noun. I'd define this as a synonym of cognate, but that means specifically paronyms in different languages, where as two words in English can be paronyms, such as wise and wisdom. Oh, as for that Greek root, parōnymon, from para-, derivative of + ónyma, name -- "from the same name".

---L.

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