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A member of a pair of opposites can generally be determined by the question What is the opposite of X ? The term antonym (and the related antonymy) is commonly taken to be synonymous with opposite, but antonym also has other more restricted meanings. Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a ...
In Sanskrit, the word वाम, vāma stands for 'left', 'wicked', 'north' and 'opposite'. In Hindi, left hand is referred to as the opposite hand (Hindi: उल्टा हाथ, romanized: Ulṭā hātha). In Hebrew, as well as in other ancient Semitic and Mesopotamian languages, the term 'left' was a symbol of power or custody. [69]
In linguistics, converses or relational antonyms are pairs of words that refer to a relationship from opposite points of view, such as parent/child or borrow/lend. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The relationship between such words is called a converse relation . [ 2 ]
A contronym is a word with two opposite meanings. For example, the word original can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also called enantiosemy, [1] [2] enantionymy (enantio-means "opposite"), antilogy or autoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definition polysemic.
Antiphrasis is the rhetorical device of saying the opposite of what is actually meant in such a way that it is obvious what the true intention is. [1] Some authors treat and use antiphrasis just as irony, euphemism or litotes. [2] When the antiphrasal use is very common, the word can become an auto-antonym, [3] having opposite meanings ...
Antithesis (pl.: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from ἀντι-"against" and θέσις "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect. [1] [2]
Binary opposition is the system of language and/or thought by which two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. [1] It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right. [ 2 ]
Controversy (UK: / k ə n ˈ t r ɒ v ə r s i /, US: / ˈ k ɒ n t r ə v ɜː r s i /) [1] [2] is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction".