What does opening mean?

What does opening mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does opening mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] an open or empty space in or between things(there was a small opening between the trees the explosion made a gap in the wall)[a] first or beginning(the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth the play's opening scene)[n] a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise[n] becom

opening

opening - The Free Dictionary

[n] an open or empty space in or between things
(there was a small opening between the trees the explosion made a gap in the wall)

[a] first or beginning
(the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth the play's opening scene)

[n] a ceremony accompanying the start of some enterprise

[n] becoming open or being made open
(the opening of his arms was the sign I was waiting for)

[n] the first performance (as of a theatrical production)
(the opening received good critical reviews)

[n] the act of opening something
(the ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door)

[n] opportunity especially for employment or promotion
(there is an opening in the sales department)

[n] the initial part of the introduction
(the opening established the basic theme)

[n] a possible alternative
(bankruptcy is always a possibility)

[n] an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity
(the orifice into the aorta from the lower left chamber of the heart)

[n] a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made
(they left a small opening for the cat at the bottom of the door)

[n] an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship

[n] a recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess
(he memorized all the important chess openings)

[n] the first of a series of actions

Other vocabulary

o, o level, o ring, o'brien, o'casey, o'clock, o'connor, o'er, o'flaherty, o'hara, o'keeffe, o'neill, o'toole, o. henry, o.d., o.e.d., o.k., oaf, oafish, oahu, oahu island, oak, oak apple, oak blight, oak chestnut, oak fern, oak leaf cluster, oak tree, oak-leaved goosefoot, oaken, p, p-n junction, p-n-p transistor, p-type semiconductor, p. g. wodehouse, p. p. von mauser, p. t. barnum, p.a., p.a. system, p.e., p.m., p.o., p/e ratio, pa, pa system, pa'anga, paba, pabir, pablo casals, pablo neruda, pablo picasso, pablum, pabulum, pac, pac-man strategy, paca, pace, pace car, pace lap, pacemaker

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.