Decasemic

/ˌdɛkəˈsɛmɪk/ adjective

Definition

In linguistics and semiotics, having ten distinct meanings or semantic elements.

Etymology

From the Greek prefix 'deca-' (ten) combined with 'semic' or '-semic' (related to meaning or signs, from 'seme'). The term emerged in 20th-century structuralist linguistic analysis.

Kelly Says

The word 'run' is decasemic in English—it can mean to sprint, to be in charge, to operate a machine, to flow, to ladder in stockings, to campaign, to escape, to amount to, and several other meanings depending on context, making it one of the most semantically overloaded words in the language.

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