# Any words that are as variable in definition as 'maroon'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482 "2009-04-09T06:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/1 "2009-04-09T06:14:22Z")
Maroon can mean: -a word used to describe certain fugitive slaves -a verb, meaning to abandon -a brownish red color -a foolish or obnoxious person in the Bugs Bunny sense of the word None of these definitions have much relation with one another, though as far as I can tell its original meaning was as a fugitive slave descriptor, with the verb form arising from that. Anywho, this struck me as sort of a unique word, given the different uses for it. Any other words out there that are like this? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/2 "2009-04-09T07:32:52Z")
_Rose_ can refer to a flower, a shade of red, a skin disease, a compass rose, a ceiling rose, the point where an animal’s horn connects to the forehead, the rose of a watering can and the past tense of the verb “to rise”. Some of these meanings are related to one another, but others are not. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/3 "2009-04-09T08:12:28Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Maroon can mean: Plus it’s a type of firework. BTW isn’t the Bugs Bunny reference simply a kiddie-friendly way of saying, ‘Moron’? ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/4 "2009-04-09T08:22:46Z")
I remember reading somewhere that “set” had the most meanings of any word in the English language. - a collection of something - to put something down - a television - stuck in their ways - part of tennis There’s too many for me to list. Here’s a [link](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/set). ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/5 "2009-04-09T08:52:31Z")
The Bugs Bunny one is just a jokey mispronunciation of “moron”, so I don’t think you can count that. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/6 "2009-04-09T12:48:28Z")
There’s nothing more extreme than being your own [antonym](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-contradicting_words_in_English). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/7 "2009-04-09T13:07:46Z")
“Pitch” is another contender. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/8 "2009-04-09T13:08:15Z")
> [@Blue\_Mood](#): > > I remember reading somewhere that “set” had the most meanings of any word in the English language. > > - a collection of something > - to put something down > - a television > - stuck in their ways > - part of tennis > > There’s too many for me to list. Here’s a [link](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/set). “Set” is probably #1 for English. I believe that “run” is a strong contender as well. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/9 "2009-04-09T22:24:56Z")
Bear, which is a noun for a large mammalian animal, and a verb for to endure or to carry. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/10 "2009-04-09T22:37:31Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > -a foolish or obnoxious person in the Bugs Bunny sense of the word Also “ultramaroon,” a pun on the color ultramarine. > [@Manduck](#): > > The Bugs Bunny one is just a jokey mispronunciation of “moron”, so I don’t think you can count that. But if you refer to someone as “Ehhhh, what a marooooon!” there’s a good chance your meaning will be understood. So it’s part of the language. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/11 "2009-04-09T22:46:41Z")
I’m guessing fuck doesn’t count, even though it can take on the meaning of all sorts of words? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/12 "2009-04-09T23:09:37Z")
It depends how loose you are with the constraint that the meanings must not be related to each other. “Set”, for example, may have many meanings, but they all come down to something to do with the act of arranging things, or the noun meaning an arrangement of things. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/13 "2009-04-09T23:34:06Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > “Set” is probably #1 for English. I believe that “run” is a strong contender as well. Also, “stick”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/14 "2009-04-10T00:01:50Z")
Dude. Dude? Dude! _Dude._ Duuuuuude… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-words-that-are-as-variable-in-definition-as-maroon/492482/15 "2009-04-10T00:38:39Z")
I read that “jack” had more separate meanings than any other. But I have also heard the same of “set”.