The Tao Of Topic Maps / quote 4 of 27
A thesaurus is a network of related terms
A thesaurus, on the other hand, emphasizes other aspects of an index. It is basically a network of interrelated terms within a particular domain, and although it will often contain other information (such as definitions, examples of usage, etc.), the key feature of a thesaurus is the relationships, or associations, between terms. Given a particular term, a thesaurus will indicate which other terms mean the same, which terms denote a broader category of the same kind of thing, which denote a narrower category, and which are related in some other way.