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Janus word. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Janus word, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Janus word in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Janus, the two-faced Roman god of doorways and transitions.
Noun
Janus word (plural Janus words)
- A word that has two contradictory meanings; contranym.
1971, Richard J. Norman, Reasons for Actions: A Critique of Utilitarian Rationality, page 67:A pro-attitude cannot be regarded as rational unless it can be justified by showing that the object of the attitude can be characterized by means of a Janus-word.
1994, Nancy Dena Goldfarb, The poetics of drowning, page 37:The poet is caught in the contradiction of this Janus word. Both and neither speaking and/nor silent, the poet becomes the contradiction in which the title "Dichtermuth" involves him.
1996, Scott B. Noegel, Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job, page 187:The difference between them is that in Janus parallelism, the referents of the Janus word do not contain the same root as the Janus word; in antanaclasis, the same root is repeated with a different meaning.