# Word Sense Disambiguation **Domain:** Natural Language Processing / Lexical Semantics **Doc Type:** Canonical Mechanism Node **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[wiki/Lexical Semantics|Lexical Semantics]], [[wiki/WordNet|WordNet]], [[wiki/Natural Language Processing|Natural Language Processing]], [[wiki/Knowledge Representation|Knowledge Representation]] --- ## Definition **Word Sense Disambiguation determines which meaning of a word is active in a particular context.** The task matters because one spelling can refer to multiple concepts, participate in different taxonomies and require different translations or semantic neighbors. Sense ambiguity differs from pronunciation ambiguity. A word may have several meanings with one pronunciation, or several pronunciations whose meanings diverge. Robust language systems need both semantic and phonological multiplicity. ## VersePerfect Context The [[wiki/VersePerfect|VersePerfect]] Word Explorer displayed numbered senses and allowed part-of-speech switching before presenting synonyms and taxonomic relations. This kept a relation attached to a particular sense rather than treating every meaning of a spelling as one bag of associations. The interface made disambiguation partly user-directed. That is an important design choice for creative work: context can suggest a sense, but the author retains authority to select what was intended. ## Key Insight **A relation is only as precise as the sense to which it is attached.** ## See Also [[wiki/Lexical Semantics|Lexical Semantics]], [[wiki/WordNet|WordNet]], [[wiki/Pronunciation Lexicon|Pronunciation Lexicon]], [[wiki/Ontology|Ontology]], [[wiki/Provenance-Sensitive Multiplicity|Provenance-Sensitive Multiplicity]], [[wiki/Natural Language Processing|Natural Language Processing]] ## Sources / Provenance - Primary project account: [[projects/Ten Years Building a Symbolic Language Engine|Ten Years Building a Symbolic Language Engine]]. - Nancy Ide and Jean Véronis, “Introduction to the Special Issue on Word Sense Disambiguation” (1998). - Word Explorer screenshots in the project account.