# Synonyms as option at query time

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [January 8, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513 "2018-01-08T11:45:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![karejonsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/karejonsson/32/25075_2.png) [@karejonsson](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/karejonsson)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513/1 "2018-01-08T11:45:26Z")

</div>

My process is to create an index offline and then move it to the production environment. Synonyms are easy enough to implement but that the risc is to create a lot of hits. I want to offer the users the option to use synonyms or not. The first problems I've come across are:

- Mapping could not contain multiple document types
- The analyzed field is the same in multiple mappings

I obviously do not want to create two indexes for the cases with and without synonyms.

Is there a best practice or some success-story about synonyms optionally at search time?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![luiz.santos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/luiz.santos/32/24664_2.png) [@luiz.santos](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/luiz.santos)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513/2 "2018-01-09T13:04:35Z")

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Hi @karejonsson,

You could create two different analyzers (with and without synonyms) and use multi-fields in the mapping:

```
PUT my_index
{
  "settings": {
    "analysis": {
      "filter": {
        "synonym": {
          "type": "synonym",
          "synonyms": [
            "universe, cosmos"
          ]
        }
      },
      "analyzer": {
        "analyzer_with_synonyms": {
          "tokenizer": "standard",
          "filter": [
            "synonym"
          ]
        },
        "analyzer_without_synonyms": {
          "tokenizer": "standard",
          "filter": []
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "mappings": {
    "doc": {
      "properties": {
        "field1": {
          "type": "text",
          "analyzer": "analyzer_without_synonyms",
          "fields": {
            "synonym": {
              "type": "text",
              "analyzer": "analyzer_with_synonyms"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
} 

```

When you search in `field1` it won't use synonyms:

```
POST my_index/doc/1
{
  "field1": "universe"
}

GET my_index/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "field1": "cosmos"
    }
  }
}

{
  "took": 0,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 5,
    "successful": 5,
    "skipped": 0,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": 0,
    "max_score": null,
    "hits": []
  }
}

```

And if you search in `field1.synonym` it will use synonyms:

```
GET my_index/_search
{
  "query": {
    "match": {
      "field1.synonym": "cosmos"
    }
  }
}

{
  "took": 1,
  "timed_out": false,
  "_shards": {
    "total": 5,
    "successful": 5,
    "skipped": 0,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "hits": {
    "total": 1,
    "max_score": 0.46029136,
    "hits": [
      {
        "_index": "my_index",
        "_type": "doc",
        "_id": "1",
        "_score": 0.46029136,
        "_source": {
          "field1": "universe"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

```

Hope it helps.

Cheers,  
Luiz Santos

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![karejonsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/karejonsson/32/25075_2.png) [@karejonsson](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/karejonsson)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513/3 "2018-01-10T06:34:53Z")

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Thanks Luiz  
I made an implementation according to your details and I am very satisfied with it. The solution I found on my own had double fields with double analysis to fit into what I knew about elastic. This is so much better.  
Kind regards,  
Kåre Jonsson

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/synonyms-as-option-at-query-time/114513/4 "2018-02-07T06:34:57Z")

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