thesaurus

noun the·sau·rus \ thi-ˈsȯr-əs \

Updated on: 2 Mar 2018

Definition of thesaurus

plural thesauri play \thi-ˈsȯr-ˌī, -ˌē\ or thesauruses play \thi-ˈsȯr-ə-səz\

1 a : a book of words or of information about a particular field or set of concepts; especially : a book of words and their synonyms

b : a list of subject headings or descriptors usually with a cross-reference system for use in the organization of a collection of documents for reference and retrieval

2 : treasury, storehouse

—

thesaural

play \thi-ˈsȯr-əl\ adjective

See thesaurus defined for English-language learners

See thesaurus defined for kids

thesaurus was our Word of the Day on 06/14/2015. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of thesaurus from the Web

From ThinkProgress: The first five vendors combined offered just five romance novels, 14 religious texts, 24 drawing or coloring books, 21 puzzle books, 11 how-to books, one dictionary and one thesaurus.

— monique judge, The Root, "New York Department of Corrections Puts Severe Restrictions on Books Prisoners Can Receive," 8 Jan. 2018
No thesaurus on earth can provide the appropriate adjectives.

— matt calkins, The Seattle Times, "At least none of the Seahawks tried to hide the fact of just how awful they played Sunday," 17 Dec. 2017
Or perhaps his anti-Trump, pro-Clinton sentiments were not germane to his mere copy editing or his reliance on a thesaurus.

— victor davis hanson, National Review, "One Mueller-Investigation Coincidence Too Many," 12 Dec. 2017
At the same time, the movie’s presumably normally gifted men are as superfluous to the proceedings as a thesaurus in the writers’ room.

— jeannette catsoulis, New York Times, "Review: Bad Grandmoms Show Up for ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’," 2 Nov. 2017
But instead of advocating for the causes in which players have protested this season, joining Kapernick's cause, owners skimmed through their thesaurus looking for safe words.

— shannon ryan, chicagotribune.com, "NFL owners' vague calls for 'unity' ignore the real problem," 24 Sep. 2017
World leaders pulled out the stops, and perhaps a thesaurus or two, to review President Donald Trump's first appearance at the UN General Assembly, the multi-day pageant of meetings known as the Super Bowl of Diplomacy.

— michelle kosinski, CNN, "From dotard to Goliath, world reacts to Trump," 23 Sep. 2017
North Korean officials are, no doubt, sorting through their insult thesaurus this very moment in search of a way to hit back at Trump.

— adam k. raymond, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Signs New North Korea Sanctions With Goal of ‘Complete Denuclearization’," 21 Sep. 2017
In the unabridged gentrification thesaurus, Whole Foods is a universal synonym for white people.

— michael harriot, The Root, "The White People Are Coming! 6 Signs Your Neighborhood Is Being Gentrified," 12 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thesaurus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In the early 19th century, archaeologists borrowed the Latin word thesaurus to denote an ancient treasury, such as that of a temple. Soon after, the word was metaphorically applied to a book containing a "treasury" of words or information about a particular field. In 1852, the English scholar Peter Mark Roget published his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, in which he listed a treasury of related words organized into numerous categories. This work led to the common acceptance of the term "thesaurus" for "a book of words and their synonyms." Finally, during the 1950s, "thesaurus" began being used in the field of word processing to refer to a list of related terms used for indexing and retrieval.

Origin and Etymology of thesaurus

New Latin, from Latin, treasure, collection, from Greek thēsauros

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1823

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

THESAURUS Defined for English Language Learners

thesaurus

noun

Definition of thesaurus for English Language Learners

: a book in which words that have the same or similar meanings are grouped together

THESAURUS Defined for Kids

thesaurus

noun the·sau·rus \ thi-ˈsȯr-əs \

Definition of thesaurus for Students

plural thesauri \-ˈsȯr-ˌī, -ˌē\ or thesauruses \-ˈsȯr-ə-səz\

: a book of words and their synonyms

Learn More about thesaurus

See words that rhyme with thesaurus Spanish Central: Translation of thesaurus Nglish: Translation of thesaurus for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of thesaurus for Arabic speakers

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thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus

thesaural

thesaurus was our Word of the Day on 06/14/2015. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of thesaurus from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of thesaurus

THESAURUS Defined for English Language Learners

thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus for English Language Learners

THESAURUS Defined for Kids

thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus for Students

Learn More about thesaurus

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thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus

thesaural

thesaurus was our Word of the Day on 06/14/2015. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of thesaurus from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of thesaurus

THESAURUS Defined for English Language Learners

thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus for English Language Learners

THESAURUS Defined for Kids

thesaurus

Definition of thesaurus for Students

Learn More about thesaurus

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