What is a homonym?

Here are three senses of homonym.

• A word that has the same pronunciation as another. Homonyms differ from each other in

  • meaning
  • origin, and
  • usually spelling.

  Also known as:

  homophone (sense 2)

• Loosely, a homograph
• Either of two people with the same name

Here are some examples of homonyms in English listed according to sense:

• Words with the same pronunciation but different in meaning:

  • bore and boar
  • two and too

• Homographs (words with the same spelling but different in meaning):

  • bow 'to bend'
  • bow 'a decorative knot'

Neufeldt 1991 647

Context for this page:

• Concept module: homonym
• In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): H
• In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
• In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 26 March 2002

© 2004 SIL International