Synset

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 registrys. Although a group of terms can be considered equilivant, metadata registries should store the synonyms at 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 preposition in which they are embedded.

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

Expression of Synonym Ring

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

See also

• metadata
• Vocabulary-based transformation
• Data Reference Model
• ANSI/NISO Z39.19-200x
• WordNet

References

• [1] Princton WordNet Home Page