Synset

 ( Metadata ) 

In metadata, a synonym ring or synset, is a group of 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 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.

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Example The following are considered semantically equivalent and form a synonym ring:

foaf:person
[[gjxdm|GJXDM]]:Person
niem:Person
sumo:Human
[[cyc]]:Person
[[umbel|UMBEL]]:Person
     

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, which is the name of the object in each of the distinct metadata registry

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Expressing a 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.

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See also

• Data Reference Model
• Metadata
• Vocabulary-based transformation
• WordNet

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External links

• WordNet at Princeton

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