Chapter Words Relating to the Intellectual Faculties of Index by Roget's Thesaurus

Words Relating to the Intellectual Faculties

Division II.—Communication of Ideas

Section I.—Nature of Ideas Communicated

516. Idea to be conveyed.

Meaning (Substantives), signification, sense, import, purport, significance, drift, gist, acceptation, acceptance, bearing, interpretation 522, reading, tenor, allusion, spirit, colouring, expression.

Literal meaning, literality, obvious meaning, grammatical sense, first blush, prima facie meaning; after- acceptation.

Equivalent meaning, synonym, synonymity.

Thing signified: matter, substance, pith, marrow, argument, text.

(Verbs). To mean, signify, express, import, purport, convey, breathe, imply, bespeak, bear a sense, involve, declare 527, insinuate, allude to, point to, drive at; to come to the point, give vent to; to stand for.

To take, understand, receive, or accept in a particular sense.

(Adjectives). Meaning, etc., significant, significative, significatory, pithy, pointed, epigrammatic, telling, striking, full of meaning, pregnant with meaning.

Synonymous, equivalent, tantamount; the same thing as.

(Epithets). Plain, simple, natural, prima facie, obvious, explicit, precise, downright, definite, distinct, defined, literal, ostensible, overt, broad, naked, unstrained, undisguised, positive, formal, honest, emphatic, bona fide, true.

Implied, tacit, understood, implicit, inferred, latent.

(Adverbs). Literally, etc., videlicet 522.

(Phrases). Au Pied de la lettre; so to speak; so to express oneself; as it were; that is to say; façon de parler.

517. Absence of meaning.

Unmeaningness (Substantives), empty sound, a dead letter, inexpressiveness, vagueness 519.

Nonsense, gibberish, rubbish, rot, see Absurdity 497, empty babble, empty sound, verbiage, nugœ, truism.

(Verbs). To mean nothing, to be unmeaning, etc.

(Adjectives). Unmeaning, void of meaning, of sense, etc., senseless, not significant, undefined, tacit, not expressed.

Inexpressible, indefinable, undefinable, unmeant, unconceived.

(Phrases). Vox et prœterea nihil; "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"; "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal."

(Adverb). Tacitly.

518. Intelligibility (Substantives), clearness, lucidity, perspicacity, explicitness, distinctness, plain speaking, expressiveness, legibility, visibility 446.