Synonymous a. [Gr. ; sy`n with, together + , , name. See Syn- , and Name .]
Having the character of a synonym; expressing the same thing; conveying the same, or approximately the same, idea.
These words consist of two propositions, which are not distinct in sense, but one and the same thing variously expressed; for wisdom and understanding are synonymous words here.
Syn. Identical ; interchangeable . -- Synonymous, Identical . If no words are synonymous except those which are identical in use and meaning , so that the one can in all cases be substituted for the other , we have scarcely ten such words in our language . But the term more properly denotes that the words in question approach so near to each other , that , in many or most cases , they can be used interchangeably . 1. Words may thus coincide in certain connections , and so be interchanged , when they can not be interchanged in other connections ; thus we may speak either strength of mind or of force of mind , but we say the force strength of gravitation . 2. Two words may differ slightly , but this difference may be unimportant to the speaker 's object , so that he may freely interchange them ; thus it makes but little difference , in most cases , whether we speak of a man 's having secured his object or having attained his object . For these and other causes we have numerous words which may , in many cases or connections , be used interchangeably , and these are properly called synonyms Synonymous words “are words which , with great and essential resemblances of meaning , have , at the same time , small , subordinate , and partial differences , -- these differences being such as either originally and on the ground of their etymology inhered in them ; or differences which they have by usage acquired in the eyes of all ; or such as , though nearly latent now , they are capable of receiving at the hands of wise and discreet masters of the tongue . Synonyms are words of like significance in the main , but with a certain unlikeness as well .” Trench .