A homonym is a word that

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In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either homographs – words that have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation) – or homophones – words that have the same pronunciation (regardless of spelling) –, or both.^[1] Using this definition, the words row (propel with oars), row (a linear arrangement) and row (an argument) are homonyms because they are homographs (though only the first two are homophones): so are the words see (vision) and sea (body of water), because they are homophones (though not homographs).

A more restrictive and technical definition requires that homonyms be simultaneously homographs and homophones^[1] – that is to say they have identical spelling and pronunciation, but with different meanings. Examples are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).

A distinction is sometimes made between true homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal).^[2][3]

The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy, and the associated adjective is homonymous, homonymic, or in latin, equivocal.

The adjective «homonymous» can additionally be used wherever two items share the same name,^[4][5] independent of how closely they are or are not related in terms of their meaning or etymology. For example, the name Ōkami is homonymous with the Japanese term for «wolf» (ōkami).

Etymology[edit]

The word homonym comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος (homonymos), meaning «having the same name»,^[6] compounded from ὁμός (homos) ‘common, same, similar’^[7] and ὄνομα (onoma) ‘name’.^[8]

[edit]

Term	Meaning	Spelling	Pronunciation
Homonym	Different	Same	Same
Homograph	Different	Same	(No requirement)
Homophone word	Different	(No requirement)	Same
Homophone phrase	Different	Different	Same to varying degree
Heteronym	Different	Same	Different
Heterograph	Different	Different	Same
Polyseme	Different but related	Same	(No requirement)
Capitonym	Different when capitalized	Same except for capitalization	(No requirement)
Synonym	Same	Different	Different
Antonym	Opposite	Different	Different
Auto-antonym	Opposite	Same	(No requirement)
Synophone	Different	Different	Similar[9]
Cognate	Same	Similar	Similar

Several similar linguistic concepts are related to homonymy. These include:

• Homographs (literally «same writing») are usually defined as words that share the same spelling, regardless of how they are pronounced.^{[note 1]} If they are pronounced the same then they are also homophones (and homonyms) – for example, bark (the sound of a dog) and bark (the skin of a tree). If they are pronounced differently then they are also heteronyms – for example, bow (the front of a ship) and bow (a ranged weapon).
• Homophones (literally «same sound») are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.^{[note 2]} If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally «different writing»). Homographic examples include rose (flower) and rose (past tense of rise). Heterographic examples include to, too, two, and there, their, they’re. Due to their similar yet non-identical pronunciation in American English, ladder and latter do not qualify as homophones, but rather synophones.^[10]
• Heteronyms (literally «different name») are the subset of homographs (words that share the same spelling) that have different pronunciations (and meanings).^{[note 3]} Such words include desert (to abandon) and desert (arid region); tear (to rip) and tear (a drop of moisture formed in one eye); row (to argue or an argument) and row (as in to row a boat or a row of seats – a pair of homophones). Heteronyms are also sometimes called heterophones (literally «different sound»).
• Polysemes are words with the same spelling and distinct but related meanings. The distinction between polysemy and homonymy is often subtle and subjective, and not all sources consider polysemous words to be homonyms. Words such as mouth, meaning either the orifice on one’s face, or the opening of a cave or river, are polysemous and may or may not be considered homonyms.
• Capitonyms are words that share the same spelling but have different meanings when capitalized (and may or may not have different pronunciations). Such words include polish (make shiny) and Polish (from Poland); march (walk in step) and March (the third month of the Year) and the pair: reading (using a book) and Reading (towns in, among other places, England).

Further examples[edit]

A homonym which is both a homophone and a homograph is fluke, meaning:

• A fish, and a flatworm.
• The end parts of an anchor.
• The fins on a whale’s tail.
• A stroke of luck.

These meanings represent at least three etymologically separate lexemes, but share the one form, fluke.*^[11] Fluke is also a capitonym, in that Fluke Corporation (commonly referred to as simply «Fluke») is a manufacturer of industrial testing equipment.

Similarly, a river bank, a savings bank, a bank of switches, and a bank shot in the game of pool share a common spelling and pronunciation, but differ in meaning.

The words bow and bough are examples where there are two meanings associated with a single pronunciation and spelling (the weapon and the knot); two meanings with two different pronunciations (the knot and the act of bending at the waist), and two distinct meanings sharing the same sound but different spellings (bow, the act of bending at the waist, and bough, the branch of a tree). In addition, it has several related but distinct meanings – a bent line is sometimes called a ‘bowed’ line, reflecting its similarity to the weapon. Even according to the most restrictive definitions, various pairs of sounds and meanings of bow, Bow and bough are homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms, heterographs, capitonyms and are polysemous.

• bow – a long stick with horse hair that is used to play certain string instruments such as the violin
• bow – to bend forward at the waist in respect (e.g. «bow down»)
• bow – the front of the ship (e.g. «bow and stern»)
• bow – a kind of tied ribbon (e.g. bow on a present, a bowtie)
• bow – to bend outward at the sides (e.g. a «bow-legged» cowboy)
• Bow – a district in London
• bow – a weapon to shoot projectiles with (e.g. a bow and arrow)

A lime can refer to a fruit or a material. A mold (mould) can refer to a fungus or an industrial cast.

The words there, their, and they’re are examples of three words that are of a singular pronunciation, have different spellings and vastly different meanings. These three words are commonly misused (or, alternatively, misspelled).

• there – «The bow shot the arrow there,» he said as he pointed.
• their – «It was their bow and arrow.» the Mother said.
• they’re – They’re not going to get to shoot the bow again after puncturing the tire (tyre) on Daddy’s car. (Contraction of They and Are.)

The words metal and mettle are polysemes and homophones, but not homographs.

Homonyms in historical linguistics[edit]

Homonymy can lead to communicative conflicts and thus trigger lexical (onomasiological) change.^[12] This is known as homonymic conflict. This leads to a species of informal fallacy of thought and argument called by the latin name equivocation.

See also[edit]

• False friends, words from different languages that appear similar but differ in meaning
• Synonyms, different words with identical or very similar meanings (conceptual inversion of «homonym»)
• Riddle
• Word play

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Christman, Robert (2002). Homonyms: Why English Suffers (Paperback). Las Cruces, New Mexico: Barbed Wire Publishing. ISBN 9780971193055.
• Hobbs, James B. (November 2014). Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary (E-book) (4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476603933.
• Joshi, Manik (June 25, 2014). Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs (E-book). Manik Joshi. ISBN 9781468948554.
• Rothwell · 2007, David (2007). Dictionary of Homonyms (Paperback). Ware England: Wordsworth Reference. ISBN 9781840225426.

Asked by: Amiya Nikolaus

Score: 4.8/5
(60 votes)

In linguistics, homonyms, broadly defined, are words which are homographs or homophones, or both.
A more restrictive or technical definition sees homonyms as words that are simultaneously homographs and homophones – that is to say they have identical spelling and pronunciation, whilst maintaining different meanings.

What is an example of a homonym?

Homonyms are two or more words with the same spelling or pronunciation, but with different meanings. … One of the most common examples of a homonym in English is the word ‘bat’. ‘Bat’ can mean a piece of equipment you use in some sports, and it’s also the name of an animal.

What is homonyms define with examples any two?

Homonyms are words that have different meanings but are pronounced the same or spelled the same. The word homonym can be used as a synonym for both homophone and homograph. … There, their, and they’re are homophones. But so are bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the covering of a tree).

What is a homonym word?

Homonyms may be words with identical pronunciations but different spellings and meanings, such as to, too, and two. Or they may be words with both identical pronunciations and identical spellings but different meanings, such as quail (the bird) and quail (to cringe).

What is a homonyms sentence?

27 related questions found

Ever chat to your friend about baking bread, and you’re both confused between needing some flour and kneading some flour because neither of you has provided further context? That’s an example of homonymy, words with different meanings but pronounced and/or spelt the same. The definition of homonymy is rather broad, as it covers both the pronunciation and the spelling. , which we will explain further with some examples and comparisons to other lexically ambiguous words!

• Do you have a rubber band?
• My band is performing tonight.

• We band every bird to track their movements.

Some other examples of homonymy are:

Address:

• Your essay fails to address the main issue. = give attention to a problem (verb)

Park:

• You can’t park your car here. = to leave a vehicle somewhere for some time (verb).
• Are you heading to the park now? = a public place with fields and trees (noun).

Tender:

• After the accident, he needs some tender loving care. = gentle (adjective).
• Your firm submitted the lowest tender. = a formal offer to supply goods or do work at a stated price (noun).

Skirt:

• Every night she rocks her baby to sleep. = to move backwards and forwards (verb).
• Yesterday’s storm forced the ship onto the rocks. = a mass of rock standing in the sea (noun).

Rose:

• Someone left you a rose. = a type of flower (noun).
• The price rose significantly last month. = to increase (verb — the past form of ‘rise’).

Types of homonymy

Homonymy can be further subdivided into more specific types that only concern either spelling or pronunciation. These are called homophones and homographs respectively.

Fig 3 — Homonyms can be further broken down into homophones and homographs.

• Sorry, I don’t eat meat. (noun)
• Let’s meet again tomorrow! (verb)

Sun-son

• The sun is hiding behind the clouds. (noun)
• My son is going to university next year. (noun)

Plain — plane

• I like your idea. It’s plain and simple. (adjective)
• The plane is having some problems at the moment. (noun)

Bow

Desert

A pun is a literary device that plays on words using two identical or similar sounding words with different and/or contradictory meanings. The first meaning is usually quite reasonable, while the secondary meaning is less sensitive.

For example:

Homonym wordplay is more effective in spoken communication than in writing because the humorous effects are more pronounced when the spelling is not defined. However, if the homonyms are cleverly constructed, they can produce some witty results.

• Waiter, will the pancakes be long? — No, sir, round
• What did the chess piece say before bed? — Knight knight
• What is ice cream’s favorite day of the week? — Sundae

• (2) bound = constrained; and,
• (3) bound = leap. Romeo still refuses Mercutio’s suggestion and here he replies, I’m too sore after being hit by the Cupid’s arrow to soar with his light feather. I’m being constrained by this love. I can’t leap.

Shakespeare uses the combination of main — Maine several times in this excerpt from Henry VI. These are homophones. Warwick repeats the word main as a transitional means (sound unit) to redefine Maine, the French county. Then, he adds meant (a variant of main — Maine) in between the last homophonic pair (3).

Reading the text may not cause ambiguity since you can read the words and know exactly what each word means. However, if you watch the play or only hear this wordplay, it may cause some confusion.

Example 3: Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865).

The words flour — flower are homophones because they’re pronounced the same but written differently. Of course, to make bread we need flour, not flower, but by playing with words in this way, Carroll provides some comical impressions of the characters.

The words ground — ground are homonyms because they’re pronounced and written the same but have different meanings. The first ground refers to ‘the surface of the earth’, while the second one means ‘an area of land’.

Polysemies:

Two or more
words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning,
distribution and origin are called homonyms.
(GK. homōnymous – homos “the same”, onoma “name”).

Homonymy
exists in many languages but it is particularly frequent in English
with its monosyllabism. (from 2540 homonyms listed in the “Oxford
English dictionary” 89 % are one-morpheme words).

Homonyms
are subdivided into homonyms
proper,
homophones and homographs.

Homonyms
proper
are words identical in pronunciation and spelling: back
(part of the body) – back
(away), ball
(a round object used in games) – ball
(a gathering of people for dancing), bark
(the skin of a tree) – bark
(a sailing ship) – bark
(the noise made by the dog).

Homophones
are words of the same sound but of different spelling and meaning:
air
– heir, birth – berth, cite- site – sight, desert – dessert,
fir – fur, hoarse – horse, sale – sail.

Homographs
are words different in sound and in meaning but accidentally
identical in spelling: bow
[bau]
– bow
[bou],
lead
[lJd]
– lead
[led],
tear
[tFq]
– tear
[tIq].

Patterned
homonymy is characteristic of homonyms that have developed from one
common source, possess identical lexical meaning and belong to
various parts of speech. Care_n
– care_v,
love_v
– love_n,
stone_n
– stone_v,
drive_v
– drive_n.

Full homonyms are words that
are homonymous in all their forms (complete homonymy).

Seal
– any of various aquatic mammals with a sleek, torpedo – shaped
body and limbs in the form of flippers; seal
– a die or signet with a raised or incised emblem used to stamp an
impression on a substance such as wax or lead.

Partial
homonyms are word forms that are homonymous in some of their forms
(this type of homonymy is characteristic of words belonging to
different lexico-grammatical classes).

Seal_n
– an aquatic mammal (seal,
seal’s, seals, seals’).

Seal_v,
to close tightly (seal,
seals, sealed, sealing).

Paronyms
are words that are kindred both in sound and meaning and usage and
therefore only mistakenly interchanged:

Hanged –
hung, assure – ensure, ingenious – ingenuous, affect – effect.

The Origin of Homonyms

The intense development of
homonymy in the English language is first of all connected with the
phonetic identity or words and stems, their monosyllabic character.

In the
course of numerous phonetic transformations two or more words
accidentally coincide in sound: homonymy develops in this case
through convergent
sound development.
Out of 2540 homonyms listed in “The Oxford English Dictionary” 93
% are formed through occasional coincidence in sound:

Sound
(Zesund)
– sound (sonus), see – sea, knight – night, bee – be, bean –
been, cell – sell, fair – fare, son – sun, week – weak.

Homonymy
may also develop from polysemy through divergent
sense development.
This process also may be combined with loss of endings and other
morphological processes. It may be the result of split of polysemy or
polysemy destroy.

Polysemy and Homonymy

When a word
has several meanings it is not always an example of polysemy
or homonymy.
LSVs cease to be alternations of one and the same unit and become
different words. Solving this problem we must turn to dictionaries
where a polysemantic word will be treated as a single entry while a
homonymous one has separate entry for each of the homonyms. Are there
any serious criteria by means of which we can distinguish between
polysemy and homonymy? There are three
major factors taken into account:

1. the semantic proximity of the
   lexical-semantic variants;

2. their derivation capacity;

3. the range of collocability.

In case of
polysemy it is easy to discover a central core of meaning which
brings the LSVs under a single general notion. Usually they are
metaphorically interrelated.

It is most
difficult to distinguish between polysemy and homonymy when a word
has a number of nominative (and not nominative-derivative) meanings.
They are usually nominations of things or actions which developed
independently of each other. This parallel
polysemy
is mostly characteristic of nouns and verbs.

If we take
board
1) a piece of wood; 2) a company, council; 3) meals, at first sight
their semantic proximity does not lie on the surface and it is not
clear synchronically whether it’s a case of polysemy but a deeper
insight on a diachronistic plane helps us to restore the fact that
the original meaning “a piece of wood” through metonymic
transfers served as the basis for development of additional meanings.

As it was
already mentioned, one of the sources of homonymy in language is its
development as the
limit of polysemy.
At a certain point new lexical-semantic variants become mutually
incompatible. We observe the process of diverging
meaning development
of a polysemantic word. Various meanings of the same word move away
from each other so far away:

Spring

the season between winter and summer; a twisted piece of metal that will return to its previous shape after it has been pressed down; a place where water comes up naturally from the ground; a sudden quick movement or jump in a particular direction.

The
semantic core of the word spring
is no longer elastic, it cannot be stretched any further. Thus we
receive four separate words which are homonymous. But how can we
distinguish between polysemy and homonymy? We must bear in mind that
the transition form polysemy to homonymy is a gradual process and it
is not possible to point out the time when two separate words with
identical form and sound shape appear in the language.

We must
take into account the semantic
proximity
of the lexical-semantic variants; in polysemantic words we look for a
central meaning; especially when we have examples of semantic
transfer.

It is more
difficult to distinguish between polysemy and homonymy when a word
has a number of nominative meanings (concrete names referring to
things and to actions which have developed independently of each
other):

board₁
(a
piece of wood)

board­₂
(a
company, council)

board₃
(meals)

Distinguishing
polysemy from homonymy we also take into consideration the
derivational capacity of the variants. Homonyms usually develop their
own sets of derivative or derived words: deep
– voiced,
voicing
against the candidate, active voice
of the verb.

One more
criterion which differentiates homonymy, from polysemy is the range
of the word’s collocability:

Cell

1. The number
   of red blood cells
   is abnormal in his blood analysis.

2. The monk
   retired to his cell.

3. To produce
   electricity they used alkaline battery cells.

4. The police
   arrested a terrorist cell.

5. The old
   peasant showed the cells
   of a honeycomb to the children.

It should
be mentioned that the problem of established strict and reliable
criteria for the distinction of different words identical in sound
form and different meanings of the same word is hard to solve:
synchronically there exists no
universal criterion
between polysemy and homonymy.

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

homo- +‎ -onym

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒmənɪm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑmənɪm/

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]

• homonymic
• homonymous
• homonymphobia

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Nyms (with category [cat] if any)

nym	Sound	Spelling	Meaning	phone/graph
homonym	same	same	different	homophone & homograph
heteronym (cat)	different	same	different	homograph
heterograph	same	different	different	homophone (cat)
heterophone	different	same	same	homograph
synonym	different	different	same	—
alternative spelling	same	different	same	homophone
identical	same	same	same	not applicable
distinct	different	different	different	—

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

Definition of Homonyms

A homonym means a word having the same sounds but different meanings. The word ‘homonym’ is of Grecian origin, made of two words, “homos” which means the same, and “onoma” which means the name. It is also stated that it has a Latin origin that goes back to the 17^th century. However, etymologically is Greek.

Semantically, such words have a huge difference in terms of signifying different things. They sound almost the same such as cite means to refer to something, while site (with s) means a place, yet there is a little difference in spelling that is of “c” and “s” and the sound, too, is the same. Some other such words, for example, write and right, have prominent differences in spelling, yet they have the same sounds. They are also called heterographs. Sometimes a homophone could have the same sound and spelling, such as “set” but have several meanings, as Webster’s Third International Dictionary shows the largest number of entries of this word having different meanings.

Difference of Homophones, Homonyms, and Homographs

Homonyms spell or pronounce the same, whereas homophones have the same spellings but different meanings and may also pronounce differently Homographs are different, and their spellings are the same but have different meanings and pronunciations. In this situation, homonyms could be both. Therefore, homonyms could refer to any one of them. Although Merriam-Webster states that some linguists suggest separating them, suggesting having alike spellings but different pronunciations should be homonyms and others homographs, but this suggestion has no wider acceptance.

Examples of Homonyms in Literature

Example #1

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

‘You promised to tell me your history, you know,’ said Alice, ‘and why it is you hate—C and D,’ she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again.‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!’ said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.‘It IS a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?’ And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this.

This passage occurs in the popular story of Lewis Carroll about Alice. In this paragraph, Alice is engaged in conversation with the Mouse, who is telling her his tale. He has mixed up tale and tail in such a way that it seems Alice is interested, and yet she pleasantly mocks at his use of the tale that is true in both ways that his tale is sad as well as long. She means a tale as well as a tail in the same sense that creates a sense of amusement in the readers when they read it. Yet, it cannot be rendered into the speech pattern, for both have the same sound.

Example #2

A Homonym Poem by Shankaran Kutty

On a stream outside I found few people row
A small country boat, sitting in a row
Across the stream a woodcutter I saw
Cutting his wood with an electric saw

And then I heard the building walls rock
And stood before me, a giant like a rock
With fear I felt my heart then sink
He picked me up and threw into the kitchen sink

And then to escape, I picked up a lead
From the sink I found a giant tube that did lead
To escape, I thought and slid through to fall
On the ground below, like leaves in fall

My mission failed, I couldn’t stop a tear
The journey through the tube, my shirt did tear
And like a little pumpkin had swollen my foot
Without pain, I could not move a foot.

The poet has played with the following words: row, saw, and rock, as well as sink in the first two stanzas, using both versions of the homonyms so that the readers perfectly understand what the poet means. Similarly, the next two stanzas with different uses of lead, fall, tear, and foot have the same spellings and same sounds.

Example #3

Faithless Sally Brown by Thomas Hood

His death, which happened in his berth,
At forty-odd befell;
They went and told the sexton, and
The sexton tolled the bell.

This is the last stanza of the poem Faithless Sally Brown by Thomas Hood. Interest, the spellings of tolled and told are not the same though they have the same sound and different meanings. This is a very good use of a homonym that has the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings.

Example #4

A Tale of Tails by Elizabeth H. MacPherson

This beautiful book by Elizabeth MacPherson presents a curious boy who comes to know that all animals have tails. Strangely, he thinks that he does not have a tail, and so do the other human beings. However, with the passage of time, he learns that a tail is very useful for the animals and can help them in various ways. Although some of the questions and his answers seem quite hilarious, the illustration of the same makes the book interesting for the children. Overall, it has successfully explained the difference between a tail and a tale, the two most popular homonyms.

Function of Homonyms

The functions of homonyms in literature and writing are very subtle. Subtleness is necessary because sometimes words have a slight difference or even no difference in sounds, but they have different connotations. Sometimes, they are different in denotations as well. So, it is necessary that a writer should understand even the slightest differences in meanings if the sounds and spellings are similar. Here the understanding of homonyms helps that they function as distinctive entities to make readers understand the fine differences in meanings. They also make dialogues, especially poems, rich and melodic.