English

Noun

poecilonym ‎(plural poecilonyms)

1. A synonym: a word that means almost the same thing as another.
   • 1977, Robert H. Stacy, Defamiliarization in Language and Literature, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 9780815621843, page 52:

     7. This is also a type of poecilonym or hybrid word; cf. such a word as “aeneolithic” (=chalcolithic) in English.

   • 1997, David Grambs, The Endangered English Dictionary: Bodacious Words, page xi:

     Maybe we could all use a few spanking old poecilonyms. Poecilonym? It's an old synonym for synonym that you'll find in these pages. But many words in this dictionary have no real counterparts in today's English.

   • 1999 July 27, "Ucalegon" (username), "Missing aircraft", in alt.anagrams, Usenet:

     >> Is there another word for synonym?

     >Actually, there is: poecilonym

     Take care, though; ‘poecilonym’ can only be used for the taxonomic meaning of ‘synonym’--an incorrect or obsolete systematic name for a genus or species.

   • 2006, Nero Blanc, Death on the Diagonal, page 147:

     It's high time I looked for another job and got as far away from homonyms, synonyms, antonyms — to say nothing of caconyms, eponyms, and poecilonyms!

Related terms

• poecilonymic
• poecilonymy

References

• http://phrontistery.info/p.html
• http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd/pq.htm#poecilonym
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/nyregion/06words.html
• http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/146510?redirectedFrom=poecilonym#eid29351118