Definition:
A word having a meaning opposite to that of another word.
Antonym is the antonym of synonym. Antonymy is the sense relation that exists between words which are opposite in meaning. Adjective: antonymous.
See also:
Etymology:
Introduced by C.J. Smith in the book Synonyms and Antonyms (1867). From the Greek, "counter name"Examples and Observations:
- "You always pass failure on the way to success."
(Mickey Rooney) - "Some have been thought to be brave
because they were afraid to run away."
(Thomas Fuller) - "Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."
(Albert Einstein) - "Linguists identify three types of antonymy: (1) Gradable antonyms, which operate on a continuum: (very) big, (very) small. Such pairs often occur in binomial phrases with and: (blow) hot and cold, (search) high and low. (2) Complementary antonyms, which express an either/or relationship: dead or alive, male or female. (3) Converse or relational antonyms, expressing reciprocity: borrow or lend, buy or sell, wife or husband."
(Tom McArthur, "Antonym." The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992) - "Antonymy is a key feature of everyday life. Should further evidence be required, try visiting a public laboratory without checking which is the 'gents' and which is the 'ladies.' On your way out, ignore the instructions which tell you whether to 'push' or 'pull' the door. And once outside, pay no attention to whether traffic lights are telling you to 'stop' or 'go.' At best, you will end up looking very foolish; at worst, you will end up dead.
"Antonymy holds a place in society which other sense relations simply do not occupy. Whether or not there exists a 'general human tendency to categorize experience in terms of dichotomous contrast' (Lyons 1977: 277) is not easily gauged, but, either way, our exposure to antonymy is immeasurable: we memorise 'opposites' in childhood, encounter them throughout our daily lives, and possibly even use antonymy as a cognitive device to organise human experience."
(Steven Jones, Antonymy: A Corpus-Based Perspective. Routledge, 2002) - "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
(Elie Wiesel)
Pronunciation: AN-ti-nim
