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1、TheOxfordThesaurusAnA-ZDictionaryofSynonymsINTROIntroduction=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Initsnarrowestsense,asynonymisawordorphrasethatisperfectlysubstitutableinacontextforanotherwordorphrase.Peoplewh
2、ostudylanguageprofessionallyagreethatthereisnosuchthingasanidealsynonym,foritisvirtuallyimpossibletofindtwowordsorphrasesthatareidenticalindenotation(meaning),connotation,frequency,familiarity,andappropriateness.Indeed,linguistshavelongnotedtheeconom
3、yoflanguage,whichsuggeststhatnolanguagepermitsaperfectfit,inallrespects,betweenanytwowordsorphrases.Manyexamplesofoverlappingcanbecited;themoreobviousonesinEnglisharethosethatreflectaduplicationarisingfromGermanicandRomancesources,likemotherlyandmate
4、rnal,farmingandagriculture,teachandinstruct.InsuchpairsthenativeEnglishformisoftentheonewithanearthier,warmerconnotation.Insomeinstances,whereanewcoinageoraloanwordhasbeenadoptedinadvertentlyduplicatinganexistingterm,creating'true'synonyms,thetwowill
5、quicklydiverge,notnecessarilyinmeaningbutinusage,application,connotation,level,orallofthese.Forexample,scientistssomeyearsagoexpresseddissatisfactionwiththetermtidalwave,forthephenomenonwasnotcausedbytidesbut,usually,bysubmarineseismicactivity.Thewor
6、dtsunamiwasborrowedfromJapaneseinanattempttodescribethephenomenonmoreaccurately,butitwaslaterpointedoutthetsunamimeans'tidalwave'inJapanese.Today,thetermsexistsidebysideinEnglish,theolderexpressionstillincommonuse,thenewermorefrequentinthescientifica
7、ndtechnicalliterature.Anysynonymbookmustbeseenasacompromisethatreliesonthesensitivityofitsuserstotheidiomaticnuancesofthelanguage.Initsbestapplications,itservestoremindusersofwords,similarinmeaning,thatmightnotspringreadilytomind,andtoofferlistsofwor
8、dsandphrasesthatarealternativestoandcompromisesforthosethatmightotherwisebeoverusedandthereforeredundant,repetitious,andboring.TheOxfordThesaurusgoesastepfurtherbyofferingexamplesentencestoillustratetheusesoftheheadwordsandtheiralternativesinnatural,
