A contronym or contranym is a word with two

opposite In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...

meanings. For example, the word ''

original Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

'' can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also called enantiosemy, enantionymy ('' enantio-'' means "opposite"), antilogy or autoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definition

polysemic Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a Sign (semiotics), sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word h ...

Nomenclature

A contronym is alternatively called an ''autantonym'', ''auto-antonym'', ''antagonym'', ''enantiodrome'', ''enantionym'', ''Janus word'' (after the Roman god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

, who is usually depicted with two faces), ''self-antonym'', ''antilogy'', or ''addad'' (Arabic, singular ''didd'').

Linguistic mechanisms

Some pairs of contronyms are true

homograph A homograph (from the , and , ) is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently, while the Oxford English Dictionar ...

s, i.e., distinct words with different

etymologies Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

which happen to have the same form. For instance ''cleave'' "separate" is from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''clēofan'', while ''cleave'' "adhere" is from Old English ''clifian'', which was pronounced differently. Other contronyms are a form of

polysemy Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a Sign (semiotics), sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word h ...

, but where a single word acquires different and ultimately opposite definitions. For example, ''sanction''—"permit" or " penalize"; ''bolt'' (originally from

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

s)—"leave quickly" or "fix/immobilize"; ''fast''—"moving rapidly" or "fixed in place". Some English examples result from

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

s being verbed in the patterns of "add <noun> to" and "remove <noun> from"; e.g. ''dust'', ''seed'', ''stone''.

Denotation In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of a word or expression is its strictly literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of having high temperature. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning in ...

s and

connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive or ...

s can drift or branch over centuries. An

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

(using contemporaneous English) as "", with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed." Negative words such as and ''sick'' sometimes acquire ironic senses by antiphrasis referring to traits that are impressive and admired, if not necessarily positive (''that outfit is bad as hell''; ''lyrics full of sick burns''). Some contronyms result from differences in

varieties of English Dialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and other aspects of grammar. For the classification of varieties of English in pronunciation only, see regional accents of English. Overview Dialects ...

. For example, to ''

table Table may refer to: * Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...

'' a bill means "to put it up for debate" in

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

, while it means "to remove it from debate" in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

(where British English would have "shelve", which in this sense has an identical meaning in American English). To ''

barrack Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

'', in

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language. While Australia has no of ...

, is to loudly demonstrate support, while in British English it is to express disapproval and contempt. In

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, has the double meaning "sacred, holy" and "accursed, infamous". Greek gave Latin its , from which English got its ''

demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the Demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. Various sects of Gnostics adopted the term '' ...

'', which can refer either to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

as the creator or to the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

, depending on philosophical context. In some languages, a word stem associated with a single event may treat the action of that event as unitary, so in translation it may appear contronymic. For example, Latin can be translated as both "guest" and "host". In some varieties of English, ''

borrow Borrow or borrowing can mean: to receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it. *In finance, monetary debt *In linguistics, change in a language due to contact with other languages * In arithmetic, when a digit becomes less ...

'' may mean both "borrow" and "lend".

Examples

English

* ''Original'' can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before" * ''Cleave'' can mean "to cling" or "to split apart". * ''Clip'' can mean "attach" or "cut off". * ''Dust'' can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar). This contradiction features in the children's book '' Amelia Bedelia''."Amelia Bedelia"
LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-02-18. * ''Fast'' can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly". * ''

Obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...

'' in music traditionally means a passage is "obligatory" but has also been used to mean "optional". * ''Overlook'' can mean "to make an accidental omission or error" or "to engage in close scrutiny or control". * ''Oversight'' can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control". * ''Peruse'' can mean to "consider with attention and in detail" or "look over or through in a casual or cursory manner". * ''Ravel'' can mean "to separate" (e.g., threads in cloth) or "to entangle". * ''Sanction'' can mean "approve" or "penalize". * ''Table'' can mean "to discuss a topic at a meeting" (''British English'') or "to postpone discussion of a topic" (''American English''). Canadian English uses both meanings of the word.

Other languages

Nouns

* The Korean language, Korean noun

앞 The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

(''ap'') may mean either "future" or "past" (distinguished by context).

Verbs

* The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

verb '' ausleihen'', the Dutch verb '' lenen'', the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

verb '' leen'', the Polish verb pożyczyć, the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

verb '' одолжить'' (''odolžítʹ''), the Finnish verb '' lainata'', and the

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

verb prunti can mean either "to lend" or "to borrow", with

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

, pronouns, and mention of persons making the sense clear. The verb stem conveys that "a lending-and-borrowing event is occurring", and the other cues convey who is lending to whom. This makes sense because anytime lending is occurring, borrowing is simultaneously occurring; one cannot happen without the other. * The

verb '' umfahren'' can mean either "to drive around" or "to run over". The two variants are distinguished by stress, though. The

verb ''omry'' can also mean either "to drive around" or "to run over", but with no distinction in pronunciation. * The

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

verb ''a închiria'', the French verb ''louer'', the

verb '' huur'', the Finnish verb ''vuokrata'' and the Spanish and mean "to rent" (as the

lessee A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

does) as well as "to let" (as the

lessor Lessor is a participant of the lease who takes possession of the property and provides it as a leasing subject to the lessee for temporary possession. For example, in leasehold estate, the landlord is the lessor and the tenant is the lessee. The le ...

does). The English verb ' can also describe either the lessee's or the lessor's role. * The Swahili verb ''kutoa'' means both "to remove" and "to add". * The Chinese word "打败" means both "to be defeated" and "to defeat". * The

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

verb چیدن (''čidan'') means both "to pluck" and "to arrange" (i.e. by putting objects down). * In Spanish (basic meaning "to give"), when applied to lessons or subjects, can mean "to teach", "to take classes" or "to recite", depending on the context. Similarly with the French verb '' apprendre'', which usually means "to learn" but may refer to the action of teaching someone. Dutch and

'' can mean "to teach" or "to learn". * The Indonesian verbs ''menghiraukan'' and ''mengacuhkan'' can mean "to regard" or "to ignore". * In

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

some verbs that begine with the prefix "''από-''" ''(apo-'') can have a contranym meaning. A prominent example is the verb "'' αποφράζω"'' means "''to plug something, to fill a hole''", and it usually used as a medical term, based on the original ancient Greek meaning. The more modern Greek meaning is "''to unplug something, remove a blockage''". Similar verbs are "''απογεμίζω''", that can both mean "''to fill up to a brim''" and "''to empty completely''" and "''απομαθαίνω''", that can both mean "''to learn something very well''" and "''to forget something I learned''". The meaning that negates the main action, is usually a more modern Greek one. The prefix "apo-" sometimes enhances an action and sometimes negates it.

Adverbs

* and (''kal'' ) may mean either "yesterday" or "tomorrow" (disambiguated by the verb in the sentence). * can mean "toward the sea" or "away from the sea" depending on dialect. * can mean "a while ago" or "in a little bit/later on"

Agent nouns

* The

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and French

cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the soun ...

(respectively) '' ospite'', '' huésped'' and '' hôte'' can mean "host" or "guest". The three words derive from the

'' hospes'', which also carries both meanings.

Adjectives

*The

'' sinister'' meant both "auspicious" and "inauspicious", within the respective Roman and Greek traditions of

augury Augury was a Greco- Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds, to receive omens. When the individual, known as the augur, read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" () means "looking at birds". ...

. The negative meaning was carried on into French and ultimately English. *Latin means "excessive, too much". It maintained this meaning in Spanish , but it was also misinterpreted as "insignificant, without importance". * The Indonesian/Malay adjective ''usah'' can mean "required" or "discouraged" (disambiguated by the use of ''tidak'' or ''tak'' "don't"). *In

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

, means among other things "bright, clear" (from Sino-Vietnamese ) and "dead, gloomy" (from ). Because of this, the name of the dwarf planet

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

is not adapted from as in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. *Spanish meant originally "blissful, fortunate" as in , "fortunate land". However it developed an ironic and colloquial meaning "bothersome, unlucky", as in , "Damned flies!".

In translation

Seeming contronyms can arise from translation. In Hawaiian, for example, ''

aloha ''Aloha'' ( , Hawaiian: �ˈlohə is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a greeting. It has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is use ...

'' is translated both as "hello" and as "goodbye", but the essential meaning of the word is "love", whether used as a greeting or farewell. Similarly, 안녕 (''annyeong'') in Korean language, Korean can mean both "hello" and "goodbye" but the central meaning is "peace". The

greeting ''

ciao ( , ) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both " hello" and "goodbye". Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its dual mea ...

'' is translated as "hello" or "goodbye" depending on the context; the original meaning was "at your service" (literally "(I'm your) slave").Ronnie Ferguson, ''A linguistic history of Venice'', 2007, , p. 284

References

External links

* * {{wiktionary-inline, Appendix:English contranyms, Appendix:English contranyms * Contronyms by language in Wiktionary
''Autoantonyms'' page on fun-with-words.com
Semantics Word play Types of words Dichotomies Ambiguity Polysemy