homonym

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Homonym

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

homo- +‎ -onym

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

homonym (plural homonyms)

  1. (semantics, strict sense) A word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word.
  2. (loosely) A word that sounds or is spelled the same as another word (but not necessarily both), technically called a homophone (same sound, different spelling) or a homograph (same spelling, different sound), or if both are the same, a homonym.
  3. (taxonomy) A name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another name that belongs to a different taxon.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Homonyms (in the broader sense) are divided into the two overlapping subcategories homographs and homophones. Examples:
    • die and dye (homophones but not homographs)
    • the parasitic flatworm called the fluke, the fish called the fluke, and a fluke, part of the tail of a whale (both homophones and homographs and therefore true homonyms in the strict sense)
    • the metal lead and the present tense of the verb lead (homographs but not homophones)

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Euler diagram of choice semantic relations.
Nyms (with category [cat] if any)
Noun (cat) Sound Spelling Meaning phone/graph
homonym same same different homophone & homograph
heteronym (cat) different same different heterophone & homograph
homophone same different different homophone (cat) & heterograph
alternative pronunciation different same same heterophone & homograph
synonym different different same heterophone & heterograph
alternative spelling same different same homophone & heterograph
identical same same same homophone & homograph
distinct different different different heterophone & heterograph

Further reading[edit]

Danish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

homonym (neuter homonymt, plural and definite singular attributive homonyme)

  1. homonymic

Noun[edit]

homonym

  1. homonym

Declension[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

homonym c

  1. homonym

Declension[edit]

Declension of homonym 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative homonym homonymen homonymer homonymerna
Genitive homonyms homonymens homonymers homonymernas