A thesaurus is a reference work that organizes words by semantic similarity, grouping synonyms and related terms into entries so that a writer can find alternatives to a given word. Its parameters: (1) headwords serving as lookup keys, (2) synonym sets organized by sense, (3) cross-references to antonyms and related concepts, (4) a fixed editorial structure produced and maintained by lexicographers. It persists through publication and distribution chains — printed volumes are manufactured, stocked, and sold; digital versions are compiled, versioned, and updated by editorial teams, with each revision replacing prior editions in the reference chain. [formal: thesaurus | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
thesaurus
A thesaurus is a reference work that organizes words by semantic similarity, grouping synonyms and related terms into entries so that a writer can find alternatives to a given word. Its parameters: (1) headwords serving as lookup keys, (2)…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A thesaurus is a human-made reference work that organizes words and their meanings into systematic groupings of synonyms, antonyms, and related terms. Built to persist through publication, digital indexing, and ongoing editorial revision.
Names and aliases
- thesaurusen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
A thesaurus is constitutively dependent on language — it organizes words, meanings, and semantic relationships. Remove language and the thesaurus cannot exist or function at all. This is a constitutive dependency (Law 8a), not merely facilitative.
- cmr98h9fl008khcxfwebiv8rnINSTANCE_OF →
Direction tested: thesaurus INSTANCE_OF tool. Per Law 9, a thesaurus is a specific kind of tool — an artifact that extends human capacity for word discovery and semantic organization. A competent speaker would call a thesaurus 'a tool for finding words.' Law 11c applies: tool is a near-universal target; the edge is true and may be filed.
- cmryhv1ck0102ekkxvvy9d8i7INSTANCE_OF →
A thesaurus encodes semantic content (word to synonym and antonym structure) in a durable readable medium, designed for human interpretation: it meets all three parameters of the accepted document definition. It is the sibling generalization that fits where dictionary does not (a thesaurus provides no meanings, failing the dictionary carved parameter). The graph already carries dictionary INSTANCE_OF document; the thesaurus belongs on the same rung.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 16, 2026, 11:42 PM UTC
- Content hash
- ecaacfd73ff2338bcde02a5be60f3514752a286dede793dfe0f03669f0cb14a7