Συνώνυμος
synonymous
Translated by Marcelo Boeri10 Jun 2001Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
A synonymous predicate occurs when [it] admits both the name and the same definition of the name. For instance, 'animal' is predicated of man, and 'man' admits both the name and the definition of animal; for animal is a substance animated, sensible; and man receives this definition, since a man is a substance both animated and sensible.1 By contrast, a homonymous predicate occurs when it does not admit the definition but only the name, such as in the case of the image of a man.2
Greek original · Adler’s text
Συνώνυμος· συνώνυμος κατηγορία ἐστίν, ὅτε τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὸν ὅρον δέχεται τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦ ὀνόματος. οἷον τὸ ζῷον κατηγορεῖται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ δέχεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὸν ὅρον τοῦ ζῴου· ζῷον γάρ ἐστιν οὐσία ἔμψυχος, αἰσθητική· καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐπιδέχεται τὸν ὅρον τοῦτον· καὶ οὐσία γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἔμψυχος καὶ αἰσθητική. ὁμώνυμος δὲ κατηγορία, ὅτε τὸν μὲν ὅρον οὐ δέχεται, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ ὄνομα· ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
Betacode
*sunw/numos: sunw/numos kathgori/a e)sti/n, o(/te to\ o)/noma kai\ to\n o(/ron de/xetai to\n au)to\n tou= o)no/matos. oi(=on to\ zw=|on kathgorei=tai tou= a)nqrw/pou, kai\ de/xetai o( a)/nqrwpos kai\ to\ o)/noma kai\ to\n o(/ron tou= zw/|ou: zw=|on ga/r e)stin ou)si/a e)/myuxos, ai)sqhtikh/: kai\ o( a)/nqrwpos e)pide/xetai to\n o(/ron tou=ton: kai\ ou)si/a ga/r e)stin o( a)/nqrwpos kai\ e)/myuxos kai\ ai)sqhtikh/. o(mw/numos de\ kathgori/a, o(/te to\n me\n o(/ron ou) de/xetai, a)lla\ mo/non to\ o)/noma: w(s e)pi\ th=s ei)ko/nos tou= a)nqrw/pou.
Notes (2)
- This entry, from John of Damascus, Dialectica 16 (PG 94, 580bc), seems roughly to reproduce (and invert) the opening section of Aristotle's Categories.
- 1cf. Aristotle, Cat. 1a6-12: 'When things have the name in common and the definition of being which corresponds to the name is the same, they are called synonymous. Thus, for example, both a man and an ox are animals. Each of these is called, by a common name, an animal, and the definition of being is also the same; for if one is to give the definition of each 'what being an animal is for each of them' one will give the same definition' (Ackrill's translation). ↩
- 2cf. Aristotle, Cat. 1a1-6: 'When things have only a name in common and the definition of being which corresponds to the name is different, they are called homonymous. Thus, for example, both a man and a picture are animals. These have only a name in common and the definition of being which corresponds to the name is different; for if one is to say what 'being an animal' is for each of them, one will give two distinct definitions' (Ackrill's translation). ↩
References
Aristotle's Categories and De Interpretatione, translated with Notes by J.L. Ackrill (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1979)
Neighbouring entries
Revision history4 revisions · last 26 May 2022
- tweaked translation, cosmeticules — Catharine Roth
- coding — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- augmented note; added keyword; restorative and other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Marcelo Boeri