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Difference Between Term and Word

A term is a word that has a specific meaning within a particular context or field of study, whereas a word has a general meaning understood by speakers of a language. While all terms are words, not all words are terms. Terms acquire special definitions when used within disciplines like sociology or biology to represent concepts, whereas words generally maintain consistent meanings understood by language users.

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436 views3 pages

Difference Between Term and Word

A term is a word that has a specific meaning within a particular context or field of study, whereas a word has a general meaning understood by speakers of a language. While all terms are words, not all words are terms. Terms acquire special definitions when used within disciplines like sociology or biology to represent concepts, whereas words generally maintain consistent meanings understood by language users.

Uploaded by

Lidia Corcevoi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Difference Between Term and Word

April 19, 2015 Posted by Admin


3

Term vs Word
 
Most of us do not give much thought to the difference between term and word and use them
interchangeably. However, a word is a meaningful element in a language. A term, on the
other hand, is a word but has a particular meaning in a situation. Hence, these two cannot
be used interchangeably. The relationship between a word and a term can simply be
understood in the following manner. All terms are words, but not all words are terms. This
highlights that words have a general meaning, which applies to our day to day
understanding. However, a term goes a step further; it acquires a special meaning in a
special situation. Through this article let us examine the differences between a word and a
term.

What is a Word?
A word can be defined as a complete meaningful element of a language. Words are
made up ofmorphemes that are the smallest elements of a language. Unlike morphemes
that may or may not be able to stand alone, words can always make sense even in
isolation. When a number of words are put together, they create a sentence. However, we
must pay attention to the grammatical rules that apply to language when creating
sentences.

Words can be spoken or else written. These always carry a meaning that is understood by
the majority, making the meaning almost universal to the speaker. However, a term does
not always carry the same meaning. Most terms are also words. This can be a single word
or else a combination of words. When we say culture, value, crime, girl, animal, all these
words have a universal meaning to the reader. However, a term does not have this
characteristic. It has a special meaning in a specific context.
‘Girl’ is a word

What is a Term?
A term can simply be understood as a word. All terms are words, but not all words are
terms. A term is a particular definition of a word, which is applicable to a special
situation. For example, in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, biology, geography,
there are terms that convey a unique meaning to the user. A term can be used to express
an idea, an abstract thought, an object, a concept, etc. A term always represents
something.

The special feature of a term is that even though it may have a general meaning in our day
to day life, it is different from the meaning with which it is associated in a particular
discipline. For example, let us take the very idea of a word.

Most of us consider a word as something that is used to represent something else such as
a chair or a book. However, a linguistic may have a completely different definition for a
word. He may consider it as the smallest meaningful element of a language. A
sociolinguistic may define it as the relationship between the signifier and the signified. This
highlights that a term and a word are very different from one another.
As a term a word has a different meaning from its general usage

What is the difference Between Term and Word?


• Definitions of Term and Word:
• A word can be defined as a complete meaningful element of a language.

• A term is a particular definition of a word, which is applicable to a specific situation.

• Connection:
• All terms are words, but not all words are terms.

• Meaning:
• Words have a universal meaning to the speaker of that particular language.

• A term does not have a universal meaning. It has a special meaning in a specific situation.

• Transferring Meaning:
• A word can be transformed into a term when used in a discipline to refer to a specific
object or situation.

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