3 ms·
Resign doesn’t really belong on this list. It isn’t an antonym of itself. Resign and resign are homographs with opposite(ish) meanings.
by smudgymcscmudge 7y ago
Resign doesn’t really belong on this list. It isn’t an antonym of itself. Resign and resign are homographs with opposite(ish) meanings.
- XaspR8d 7y agoYeah, but that's a really challenging line to draw diachronically. For example, clip = to fasten originates from Old English `clyppan` (to embrace/clasp/surround), while clip = to cut originates somewhere Scandanavian, as in Old Norse' `klippa` (to clip/shear). Are those still homographs? I think a fair number of the list items are the result of convergent evolution.
- thaumasiotes 7y agoHomographs are words that are written identically. I don't understand what you're trying to ask - the etymology of a word is not at all relevant to how it's spelled.
- empath75 7y agoit's relevant to whether it's a homograph
- thaumasiotes 7y agoNo, it isn't. The spelling, and only the spelling, determines whether it's a homograph, because that's what "homograph" means. Etymology is relevant to whether two words are cognates.
- empath75 7y agoIf the multiple meanings are merely variations on the same etymology, it’s not a homograph, it’s just a word with multiple meanings.
- oxxrs 7y agoIt's a heteronym, see[1]. And etymologically they seem to be related, the sense "quit" dating back to the 14th century while the sense "sign again" a more recent addition, 19th century [2] [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heteronym https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heteronym [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resign https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resign