polysemy

1.  I. Polysemy

Polysemy is the existence of several meanings for a single word or phrase. The word polysemy comes from the Greek words πολυ-, poly-, “many” and σήμα, sêma, “sign”. In other words it is the capacity for a word, phrase, or sign to have multiple meanings i.e., a large semantic field. Polysemy is a pivotal concept within the humanities, such as media studies and linguistics.

 A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related senses. Since the test for polysemy is the vague concept of relatedness, judgments of polysemy can be difficult to make. Because applying pre-existing words to new situations is a natural process of language change, looking at words' etymology is helpful in determining polysemy but not the only solution; as words become lost in etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so. Some apparently unrelated words share a common historical origin, however, so etymology is not an infallible test for polysemy, and dictionary writers also often defer to speakers' intuitions to judge polysemy in cases where it contradicts etymology. English has many words which are polysemous. For example, the verb "to get" can mean "procure" (I'll get the drinks), "become" (she got scared), "understand" (I get it) etc.
In vertical polysemy a word refers to a member of a subcategory (e.g., 'dog' for 'male dog').^[4] A closely related idea is metonym, in which a word with one original meaning is used to refer to something else connected to it.

A word like walk is polysemous:

1. I  went walking this morning
2. We went for a walk last Sunday
3. Do you walk the dog every day?
4. I live near Meadow Walk Drive
5. The wardrobe is too heavy to lift; we’ll have to walk it into the bedroom (move a large object by rocking).
6. She walks the tower (to haunt a place as a ghost).
7. The workers threatened to walk (to go on strike).
8. Walk with God! (to live your life in a particular way)

Example :

Man

1.      The human species (i.e., man vs. animal)

2.      Males of the human species (i.e., man vs. woman)

3.      Adult males of the human species (i.e., man vs. boy)

This example shows the specific polysemy where the same word is used at different levels of a taxonomy. Example 1 contains 2, and 2 contains 3.

Mole

1.      a small burrowing mammal

2.      consequently, there are several different entities called moles (see the Mole disambiguation page). Although these refer to different things, their names derive from 1. :e.g. A Mole burrows for information hoping to go undetected.

Bank

1.      a financial institution

2.      the building where a financial institution offers services

3.      a synonym for 'rely upon' (e.g. "I'm your friend, you can bank on me"). It is different, but related, as it derives from the theme of security initiated by 1.

However: a river bank is a homonym to 1 and 2, as they do not share etymologies. It is a completely different meaning.^[15] River bed, though, is polysemous with the beds on which people sleep.

Book

1.      a bound collection of pages

2.      a text reproduced and distributed (thus, someone who has read the same text on a computer has read the same book as someone who had the actual paper volume)

3.      to make an action or event a matter of record (e.g. "Unable to book a hotel room, a man sneaked into a nearby private residence where police arrested him and later booked him for unlawful entry.")

Newspaper

1.      a company that publishes written news.

2.      a single physical item published by the company.

3.      the newspaper as an edited work in a specific format (e.g. "They changed the layout of the newspaper's front page").

The different meanings can be combined in a single sentence, e.g. "John used to work for the newspaper that you are reading."

Milk

The verb milk (e.g. "he's milking it for all he can get") derives from the process of obtaining milk.

Wood

1.      a piece of a tree

2.      a geographical area with many trees

Crane

1.      a bird

2.      a type of construction equipment

3.      to strain out one's neck

References :

http://www.afv.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161:polysemy-a-homonymy&catid=121:miscellaneous&Itemid=352

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy