English words with the most meanings

[Athena]

I'm subscribed to a (Dutch) mailinglist which emails me interesting factoids. I'm not allowed to publically post about them, but I found a different source saying the same thing and I can share that with you.

 

Dictionary Link

 

What word has the most definitions?

 

"Set" has 464 definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary. "Run" runs a distant second, with 396. Rounding out the top ten are "go" with 368, "take" with 343, "stand" with 334, "get" with 289, "turn" with 288, "put" with 268, "fall" with 264, and "strike" with 250.

I thought this was interesting .

 

In Dutch, some quick Googling tells me the word 'van' has the most meanings in Dutch (61), followed by 'slag' (48). I'd tell you what they mean, but.. . 'van' can mean for example 'of', 'by' and 'from' and 'slag' can mean 'battle', 'strike' and 'kind' (as in 'a certain kind of people').

[pontalba]

I love stuff like this! I've read that English is about the most difficult to learn because of all the meanings.

 

I subscribe to A.Word.A.Day http://wordsmith.org/words/yester.html

It's free, and fascinating. There is always a Thought of the Day at the bottom of the page, that proves thought provoking as well.

[Athena]

I subscribe to A.Word.A.Day http://wordsmith.org/words/yester.html

It's free, and fascinating. There is always a Thought of the Day at the bottom of the page, that proves thought provoking as well.

That's interesting, thanks !

[Kylie]

Very interesting facts, Gaia, thanks!

[Athena]

Very interesting facts, Gaia, thanks!

I'm glad you liked them !