01 / meaning
Words are signs. This is about what they point to.
Semantical means relating to meaning: the bond between a sign and the thing it stands for. Syntax is the shape of a sentence. Semantics is its sense.
LANGUAGE
Relating to the meaning of words, phrases and symbols.
LOGIC
Concerning truth and interpretation, rather than form.
MACHINES
Matching by sense, rather than by spelling.
02 / origin
A root that signals.
From Greek σημαντικός, “significant”, from σῆμα, “a sign, a mark”. The same root still signals through English:
semanticsemaphoresemioticspolysemysememe
03 / in machines
From matching letters to matching meaning.
STRING MATCH“car” finds only “car”.
SEMANTIC MATCH“car” also finds automobile, vehicle, sedan.
semantical → [0.412, −0.087, 0.733, 0.051, −0.268, 0.590, …]
The meaning of a word is its use in the language.
Ludwig Wittgenstein