A little shorter entry writing today. I have spent the last hour and a half trying to find this. It was a few days ago that I first came across it. I can’t remember exactly, but I just remember that I was reading about antonyms and the subject veered over to auto-antonyms. I was intrigued, but not intrigued enough to write the name down. Shame on me. I’ve learned my lesson. After checking so many websites on language and related subjects, and going through my 3x5 cards, I went back to the computer and typed in “antonyms” into Wikipedia. And it took me to “Opposites”. And on the article's page three was what I was hunting for.
What is an auto-antonym? Simply put, it is a word that can mean the opposite of itself depending on the way one uses it. One of the examples that Wikipedia gave was “fast”: it can mean moving quickly, or it can mean fixed firmly in place. “Enjoin” can mean to prohibit, or it can mean to order. Some other examples the article gave were “cleave” (to split; to adhere); “sanction” (prohibition; permission); and “stay” (postpone or remain in place; movement, or guide direction).
Now that I knew what to call it, I typed in "auto-antonym" into the Wikipedia Search space. And I found an entire article just on it! And I found a much longer list of such words. I've accomplished something. I feel good. I should have been an English major (just kidding).
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