a. Also 7 synonimus, 7–9 synonimous. [f. med.L. synōnymus, ad. Gr. συνώνυμος: see SYNONYM and -OUS.]
1. Having the character of a synonym; equivalent in meaning: said of words or phrases denoting the same thing or idea, Const. to, (now usually) with.
1610. Donne, Pseudo-Martyr, 389. So doth the law accept it [sc. the word ‘heresy’] in this oath, where it makes it equiualent, and Synonimous, to the wordes which are ioyned with it, which are Impious and Damnable.
1678. Cudworth, Intell. Syst., I. iv. 601. That word Substance, being used … as Synonymous with Essence.
1690. Reasons why Rector of P. took Oath of Allegiance, 11. Lawmakers … muster up such a number of synonymous Terms, or such as amongst which we can see but small diversity.
1697. Phil. Trans., XIX. 398. At one view you have the several Synonimous Names of all precedent Writers of Natural History.
1755. Johnson, Dict., Pref. Words are seldom exactly synonimous.
1813–21. Bentham, Ontology, Wks. 1843, VIII. 201/1. Matter, at first sight, may naturally enough be considered as exactly synonymous to the word substance.
1816. Singer, Hist. Cards, 56. The fact appears to be, that Pair and Pack were formerly synonimous.
1872. Darwin, Emotions, vii. 194. To say that a person ‘is down in the month’ is synonymous with saying that he is out of spirits.
1884. J. Tait, Mind in Matter, III. 74. If life and mind are not synonymous, neither are brain and mind.
b. Of or relating to synonyms; synonymic. rare.
1805. [see SYNONYMIZE 4].
c. transf. Said of things of the same nature denoted by different names, i.e., by synonyms; thus = identical. (Cf. SYNONYM 3, SYNONYMITY b.)
1789. Burney, Hist. Mus., III. vii. 439. Two of the five short keys are divided in the middle and communicate to two different sets of pipes so that G♯ and A♭, are not synonimous sounds.
2. In extended sense, said of words or phrases that denote things that imply one another: cf. SYNONYM 2.
1659. T. Pecke, Parnassi Puerp., 152. Can it be thus, That Tents, and Studies are Synonimous?
1706. Estcourt, Fair Example, I. i. Cuckold and Husband are as Synonimous Terms, as Rogue and Attorney.
1769. Junius Lett., xv. (1788), 89. Good-faith and folly have so long been received as synonimous terms, that [etc.].
1777. Robertson, Hist. Amer. (1778), I. IV. 254. Over all the continent of North America a north-westerly wind and excessive cold are synonymous terms.
1829. Carlyle, Misc. (1857), II. 1. Were will in human undertakings synonymous with faculty.
1855. Prescott, Philip II., I. III. i. 317. The name of soldier was synonymous with that of marauder.
1873. G. S. Baden-Powell, New Homes, 431. With many,… going out to Australia is believed to be synonymous with making a fortune.
3. loosely. Having the same name; denoted by the same word: = HOMONYMOUS 2.
1734. [see HETERONYMOUS 1].
1796. Kirwan, in Trans. R. Irish Acad., VI. 187. If a magnet be cut in two, in a direction parallel to the axis, the parts before conjoined will now repel each other, because they still retain two synonimous poles.
1876. Besant & Rice, Gold. Butterfly, xiii. Poor old Abraham Dyson, now lying in a synonymous bosom.
¶ b. That may be described in the same terms; of the same description; similar. Obs.
1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk Lond., I. 8. ’Tis needless to expose His Stockins, or describe, or Shooes, Or Legs, or Feet, since ’t may be guessed They were Synonimous to th’ rest.
1706. De Foe, Jure Div., VII. 142. The Fall of Man having made him a Slave to the Devil, Man grew something Diabolical himself, and strove to practice a synonimous Power over his fellow Creatures.
Hence Synonymously adv., by or as a synonym, with the same meaning; Synonymousness.
1659. Pearson, Creed, i. 100. It [sc. creation] is often used synonymously with words which signifie any kind of production or formation.
1671. F. Philipps, Reg. Necess., 415. The Earls or Counts of England … before the Norman Conquest, were as our learned Selden observed, sometimes Synonimously entituled Dux or Dukes.
1688. Vox Cleri Pro Rege 47. The King had Sovereign or absolute Power (for our late Prerogative Divines have used both Epiethites Synonimously).
1839. G. Roberts, Dict. Geol., Schist,… often used synonymously with slate.
1863. Max Müller, Sci. Lang., Ser. II. x. (1868), 447. The synonymousness of Sky and God in the Aryan language.
