Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (2)
1.
the study of language meaning;
2.
the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text;
- Example: "a petty argument about semantics"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
General semantics \Gen"er*al sem*an"tics\, n. (1933)
a doctrine and philosophical approach to language and its
relationship to thought and behavior, developed by Alfred
Korzybski (1879-1950), which holds that the capacity to
express ideas and thereby improve one's interaction with
others and one's environment is enhanced by training in the
more critical use of words and other symbols; -- sometimes
also called semantics.
Note: More information can be found on the web site of the [a
HREF="http:]/www.general-semantics.org/">Institute of
General Semantics.
[PJC]
General Semantics is the study of the relations
between language, "thought", and behavior:
between how we talk, therefore how we think,
therefore how we act. --George Doris
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Semantics \Sem*an"tics\, n. sing. or pl. [Gr. shmantikos having
meaning, from sh^ma a sign.]
1. the study of the meanings of words and of the sense
development of words; -- formerly called semasiology.
[PJC]
2. a doctrine and philosophical approach to language and its
relationship to thought and behavior, developed by Alfred
Korzybski (1879-1950), which holds that the capacity to
express ideas and thereby improve one's interaction with
others and one's environment is enhanced by training in
the more critical use of words and other symbols; -- also
called general semantics.
[PJC]
3. the meanings of words as they are used to achieve an
effect; especially, the multiple meanings of words or the
multiplicity of words having the same meaning; -- used in
referring to the confusion that can be caused
(intentionally or unintentionally) by multiple meanings;
as, there's no real difference, it's only a matter of
semantics.
[PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Semasiology \Se*ma`si*ol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. shmasi`a signification +
-logy.] (Philol.)
The science of meanings or sense development (of words); the
explanation of the development and changes of the meanings of
words; -- more commonly referred to as semantics. --
Se*ma`si*o*log"ic*al, a.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
semantics
n 1: the study of language meaning
2: the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text; "a petty
argument about semantics"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
42 Moby Thesaurus words for "semantics":
bowwow theory, comparative linguistics, derivation,
descriptive linguistics, dialectology, dingdong theory, etymology,
glossematics, glossography, glossology, glottochronology,
glottology, grammar, graphemics, historical linguistics,
language study, lexicography, lexicology, lexicostatistics,
lexigraphy, linguistic geography, linguistic science, linguistics,
mathematical linguistics, morphology, morphophonemics,
onomasiology, onomastics, onomatology, paleography, philology,
phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, semasiology, semiotic,
semiotics, significs, sociolinguistics, structuralism, syntactics,
transformational linguistics
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
semantics
The meaning of a string in some language, as opposed
to syntax which describes how symbols may be combined
independent of their meaning.
The semantics of a programming language is a function from
programs to answers. A program is a closed term and, in
practical languages, an answer is a member of the syntactic
category of values. The two main kinds are denotational
semantics and operational semantics.
(1995-06-21)