polysemy

Polysemy

Polysemy is the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings. A polyseme is a word or phrase with multiple meanings. Adjective: polysemous or polysemic.

A polyseme the phenomenon of having or being open to several or many meanings.When a word has several very closely related senses or meanings.Polysemous word is a word having two or more meanings. For example, foot in : - He hurt his foot ; - She stood at the foot of the stairs.

Polysemy is the existence of several meanings for a single word or phrase. The word polysemy comes from the greek words πολυ-, poly-, “many” and σήμα, sêma, “sign”. In other words it is the capacity for a word, phrase, or sign to have multiple meanings i.e., a large semantic field. Polysemy is a pivotal concept within the humanities such as media studies and linguistics.

A word like walk is polysemous:

1. I  went walking this morning
2. We went for a walk last Sunday
3. Do you walk the dog every day?
4. I live near Meadow Walk Drive
5. The wardrobe is too heavy to lift; we’ll have to walk it into the bedroom (move a large object by rocking).
6. She walks the tower (to haunt a place as a ghost).
7. The workers threatened to walk (to go on strike).
8. Walk with God! (to live your life in a particular way)

References

grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/polysemyterm.htm

http://www.afv.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161:polysemy-a-homonymy&catid=121:miscellaneous&Itemid=352

http://learningcommunity-akbar.blogspot.co.id/2009/11/homonimy-polysemy-and-hyponymy.html