thesaurus

English Online Dictionary. What means thesaurus‎? What does thesaurus mean?

English

Etymology

16th century, from Latin thēsaurus, from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “storehouse, treasure”); its current English usage/meaning was established soon after the publication of Peter Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases in 1852. Doublet of treasure.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɪˈsɔːɹəs/
• Rhymes: -ɔːɹəs

Noun

thesaurus (plural thesauri or thesauruses)

2. A publication that provides synonyms (and sometimes antonyms and other semantic relations) for the words of a given language.

   Synonym: synonymicon
4. (archaic) A dictionary or encyclopedia.
6. (information science) A hierarchy of subject headings: canonical titles of themes and topics, the titles serving as search keys.

   Coordinate terms: catalogue, controlled vocabulary, index

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ontology
• Wiktionary's thesaurus
• Appendix:Roget's thesaurus classification
• Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus
• Appendix:Moby Thesaurus II

Further reading

• “thesaurus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “thesaurus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• OneLook Thesaurus in OneLook, 2023

Latin

Alternative forms

• thensaurus (pre-Classical)
• tēsaurus, tēsōrus (Low Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “storehouse, treasure”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /tʰeːˈsau̯.rus/, [t̪ʰeːˈs̠äu̯rʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /teˈsau̯.rus/, [t̪eˈs̬äːu̯rus]

Noun

thēsaurus m (genitive thēsaurī); second declension

1. treasure, hoard
2. a dear friend, loved one
3. a vault for treasure
4. chest, strongbox
5. repository, collection

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Derived terms

• thēsaurārius
• thēsaurensis
• thēsaurizātor
• thēsaurizō

Descendants

References

• “thesaurus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “thesaurus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• thesaurus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• thesaurus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “thesaurus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “thesaurus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin thesaurus.

Pronunciation

Noun

thesaurus m (plural thesauri or thesaurus)

1. Alternative form of tesauro