One of my recent reads (or rather, still a current read) – Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen – is teaching me cool words. First, the book uses many words of Irish dialect, and from the first time I read a book using Irish dialect (don’t recall when or which book), I was hooked. Second, I found myself learning other words that I hadn’t encountered before, and further, when I looked at the meaning of those words, I discovered that Gallen has used them in a cool way indeed! This led me to checking out the many wonderful ways to use words, all those wondrous words we already know and the new ones we learn each day!

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself.

And I discovered that yes, there are simply, sometimes, infinitely,…

Many Wonderful Ways to Use Words

Did you know that some of the really common English words have hundreds of meanings? Yes, hundreds. And we unconsciously use them in many of those ways without even realizing it. Here are five words with multiple meanings. And I wonder: When polysemy is possible, why not peace? Right?

Note: polysemy is the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase.

Run

Run is currently in the running, or well, far ahead of other words in the running, for the word with the most meanings, 645 according to this article on NPR! However, you will not find “run” listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for this accomplishment, since for that to happen, it has to get listed with that many meanings in the OED, and the next OED is expected earliest in 2034.

I better run out to the parking lot before the time runs out on the meter!

Set

So ‘set’ is the official world record holder for the word with the most meanings (430 of them) in the Guinness Book at this time (reason – it is the one in the current/second edition of the OED having the most meanings)!

Can you set the table before Nadal wins the next set? If you do so, I will give you a surprise reward!

Take

With 343 meanings listed in the OED, “take” is impressive indeed. Take for example, the cool ways we can use it. Like,

• We can take pleasure in looking at a picture we took in the last vacation taken by us!
• Or, after a film shoot, I could ask someone, ‘What’s your take on that last take?’

Fall

And then there is fall with 264 definitions in the 1989 edition of the OED. Keeping it simple here with

Leaves fall in the fall.

Project

Now this one is a homograph compared to the others on the list, which were all homonyms. That is, different forms of this word take on different pronunciations and also have different meanings. And, it is also not in the top ten list of words with most meanings.

She noticed a note projecting from the book, and on having a glance at it, realized it contained information on the top-secret project Jack was working on!

Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs: One of the Many Wonderful Ways to Use Words

Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation, but often different spellings and meanings. While homonyms have the same sound and the same spelling as well, but different meanings once again. The last one on the list is homographs. These are words that are spelled the same but not necessarily pronounced the same and have different meanings and origins.

Note that there is sometimes an overlap among them; many homophones and homographs are homonyms as well; while some homographs are homonyms and homophones as well!

Homographs	Homonyms	Homophones
words that look alike so same spellings	words that look and sound alike so same sound and spelling	words that sound alike so same pronunciation
different meanings often different sounds	different meanings	often different spellings different meanings
bow: take a bow bow: the front of a ship bow: as in bow and arrows	bark: the outer layer of a tree bark: the sound a dog makes	bear: the animal bear: carry the weight of bare: uncovered, empty
minute: 60 minutes in an hour minute: tiny, miniscule	match: a contest, like a boxing match match: items like one another match: used to light a fire	meat and meet

The Wondrous Words and Ways to Use Them

In my Wondrous Words post on Wednesday, the 30th of November in 2011, I featured the words transom and folderol. They were both from my current reads at that time. Today, I bring you two words from that current read I mentioned earlier, and one of the words is the one that started it all (or started off my deviation into looking for words with many meanings, and more!)

• foundered (intransitive verb) (source)
  • this can mean – to become disabled, like a horse going lame
  • or to collapse
  • it can also mean – to become submerged, like a ship sinking
  • or to fail at something (like ‘The company foundered after a bad quarter of sales’)

• gulder (n): to shout loudly or crudely (source)

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.

Related Reads

• Word Play and its Wonders
• Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: I loved this book when I read it earlier this year, and keep dipping back into it every so often!
• The Know-Nonsense Guide to Grammar: An Awesomely Fun Guide to the Way We Use Words! Check out my review of the book here. This one is a part of an awesome series of guides.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, which word appeals most to you? What is your most recent “word-discovery”? Or, can you tell me one of the many wonderful ways to use words that has caught your eye recently?