semantics

Etymology

From French sémantique, displacing earlier semasiology. From Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós).

noun

1. (linguistics) A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words.
   Semantics is a foundation of lexicography.
2. The study of the relationship between words and their meanings.
   In fact, nowadays a lot is known about the semantics of natural languages, and it is surprisingly easy to build semantic representations which partially capture the meaning of sentences or even entire discourses. 2006, Patrick Blackburn, Johan Bos, Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, section 8.1
3. The individual meanings of words, as opposed to the overall meaning of a passage.
   The semantics of the terms used are debatable.
   The semantics of a single preposition is a dissertation in itself.
4. (computer science) The meaning of computer language constructs, in contrast to their form or syntax.
   file sharing and locking semantics