Why is that many words in a language do not have a distinct meaning but we know when and how to use them?

Many words, at least in the English language, like "characteristic" or "attribute" or "character" end up having very similar meanings to other words or allude to having definitions where their synonyms are used, where it is hard to tell the difference between them, and there is not a distinct meaning to them either. We just know how to use or when to use them over time. Why is it like that? Not sure if this question is for this subreddit or if it is more of philosophical question. Heck, why do even dictionaries have multiple different meanings compared to other dictionaries. This does not need to apply just to English.

submitted by /u/Instance-Famous
[link] [comments]

from Dia dhaoibh | Languagelearning https://ift.tt/2CbEqWg
via Learn Online English Speaking