sense is the meaning of the word. synonymy synonymy—using synonyms as a proxy for word meaning. But! There are probably no examples of perfect synonymy: two synonyms have slightly different sense (“my big sister” != “my large sister”) word relatedness not synonyms, but closeness in utility or semantic frame: coffee + tea — similar coffee + cup — related, but not similar semantic field words that relate by covering a similar semantic domain: e.g.: hospital - surgeon, scapel, nurse antonyms antonyms can be binaries at opposite ends of a related semantic field affective meaning word meaning that relate to the affect, emotion, etc. of the speaker which doesn’t relate to literal meaning (replica vs. knockoff) valence: pleasantness of stimulus arousal: intensity of the emotion provoked by stimulus dominance: degree of control exerted by the stimulus principle of contrast “a difference in form results in a difference in meaning”