homonym

homonym
—homonymic, adj. —homonymity, n.
/hom"euh nim/, n.
1. homophone (def. 1).
2. a word the same as another in sound and spelling but different in meaning, as chase "to pursue" and chase "to ornament metal."
3. (loosely) homograph.
4. a namesake.
5. Biol. a name given to a species or genus that has been assigned to a different species or genus and that is therefore rejected.
[1635-45; < L homonymum < Gk homónymon, neut. of homónymos HOMONYMOUS]
Syn. 1, 2, 3. HOMONYM, HOMOPHONE, and HOMOGRAPH designate words that are identical to other words in spelling or pronunciation, or both, while differing from them in meaning and usually in origin. HOMOPHONES are words that sound alike, whether or not they are spelled differently. The words pear "fruit," pare "cut off," and pair "two of a kind" are HOMOPHONES that are different in spelling; bear "carry; support" and bear "animal" are HOMOPHONES that are spelled alike.
HOMOGRAPHS are words that are spelled identically but may or may not share a pronunciation. Spruce "tree" and spruce "neat" are HOMOGRAPHS, but so are row /roh/ "line" and row /row/ "fight" as well as sewer /sooh"euhr/ "conduit for waste" and sewer /soh"euhr/ "person who sews."
HOMONYMS are, in the strictest sense, both HOMOPHONES and HOMOGRAPHS, alike in spelling and pronunciation, as the two forms bear. HOMONYM, however, is used more frequently than HOMOPHONE, a technical term, when referring to words with the same pronunciation without regard to spelling. HOMONYM is also used as a synonym of HOMOGRAPH. Thus, it has taken on a broader scope than either of the other two terms and is often the term of choice in a nontechnical context.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • homonym — Adj gleichlautend per. Wortschatz fach. (19. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus gr. homṓnyma Pl. (Begriffe), deren Name gleich ist . Zu gr. ónoma Name    Ebenso nndl. homoniem, ne. homonym, nfrz. homonyme, nnorw. homonym; anonym. ✎ Cottez (1980), 186 …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Homonym — Hom o*nym, n. [Cf. F. homonyme. See {Homonymous}.] A word having the same sound as another, but differing from it in meaning; as the noun bear and the verb bear. [Written also {homonyme}.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Homŏnym — (v. gr., gleichnamig), 1) zweideutig; 2) Wort, das bei gleichem Laut verschiedene Begriffe anzeigt (also das Gegentheil von synonym), z.B. Bauer: Käfig u. Landmann, s.u. Räthsel …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Homonym — (griech.), gleichnamig, gleichlautend, besonders von Wörtern, die dabei verschiedene Bedeutung haben (Homonymen), gebraucht (z. B. malen und mahlen, sein in doppelter Bedeutung); daher Homonymie, Gleichnamigkeit, auch soviel wie Doppelsinnigkeit …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Homonym — (grch.), gleichbedeutend; Homonȳme, Wörter von gleichem Laut, aber verschiedener Bedeutung …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Homonym — Homonym, griech. dtsch., Wort, das mit einem andern gleichlautet und doch einen andern Sinn hat, z.B. der Heide, die Haide; wagen, der Wagen …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • homonym — 1807, from Fr. homonyme and directly from L. homonymum (Quintilian), from Gk. homonymon, neut. of homonymos, from homos same (see HOMO (Cf. homo ) (1)) + onyma, dialectal form of onoma name (see NAME (Cf. name)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Homonym — Homonym: Die seit dem 19. Jh. übliche sprachwissenschaftliche Bezeichnung für ein gleichlautendes, aber in der Bedeutung ‹und in der Herkunft› verschiedenes Wort beruht auf einer gelehrten Entlehnung aus griech. lat. (rhē̓mata bzw. verba)… …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • homonym — ► NOUN ▪ each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. DERIVATIVES homonymic adjective homonymous adjective homonymy noun. ORIGIN Greek hom numos having the same name , from homos same +… …   English terms dictionary

  • homonym — [häm′ə nim΄] n. [Fr homonyme < L homonymus < Gr homōnymos, having the same name < homos, SAME + onyma, NAME] 1. a word with the same pronunciation as another but with a different meaning, origin, and, usually, spelling (Ex.: bore and… …   English World dictionary

  • Homonym — In linguistics, a homonym is one of a group of words that share the same pronunciation but have different meanings, and are usually spelled differently. Some sources only require that homonyms share the same spelling or pronunciation (in addition …   Wikipedia

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