Synset

From WhyNotWiki

http://computing-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Synsets. Retrieved on 2007-05-11 11:18.

synonym ring - A list of words with related meanings used to broaden the scope of a word search. As well as returning documents which contain a sought-for word a search using a synonym ring might also return documents which contain words in the same synonym ring as a sought-for word. Synonym rings are produced manually and are usually specific to a certain field, e.g. legal knowhow.

Synonym ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synonym_ring). Retrieved on 2007-05-11 11:18.

In metadata a Synonym ring or synset, is a group of data elements that are considered semantically equivalent for the purposes of information retrieval. These data elements are frequently found in different metadata registries. Although a group of terms can be considered equivalent, metadata registries should store the synonyms at a central location called the preferred data element.

According to WordNet, a synset or synonym set is defined as a set of one or more synonyms that are interchangeable in some context without changing the truth value of the proposition in which they are embedded.

[edit] Example of Synonym Ring

The following are considered semantically equivalent and for a synonym ring:

foaf:person
gjxdm:Person
niem:Person
sumo:Human
cyc:Individual

Note that each data element has two components:

1. Namespace prefix which is a shorthand for the name of the metadata registry
2. Data Element name The name of the object in each of the distinct metadata registry

[edit] Expression of Synonym Ring

A Synonym Ring can be expressed by a series of statements in the Web Ontology Language (OWL) using the classequivalence or the propertyEquivalence or instance equivalence statement - the sameAs property.

Aliases: Synonym set, Synonym sets, Synonym ring, Synonym rings, Synset, Synsets