Note 11 — Chapter I · History of its Vocabulary.
Reading edition
A synonym is a word that has the same meaning as another word; like begin and commence; will and testament. There are very few real synonyms in English; because when the language acquired a word of similar meaning, it at once set to work to use it in a different way, or to give it a different function, or to bestow on it a different tone, colouring, or shade.