HOMOPHONE

homophone

(noun) two words are homophones if they are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning or spelling or both (e.g. bare and bear)

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

homophone (plural homophones)

A word which is pronounced the same as another word but differs in spelling or meaning or origin.

A letter or group of letters which are pronounced the same as another letter or group of letters.

Usage notes

A homophone is a type of homonym in the loose sense of that term (a word which sounds or is spelled the same as another). (The strict sense of homonym is a word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word.) A homograph is a word with the same spelling as another but a completely unrelated meaning. Homographs are not necessarily homophones.

Source: Wiktionary


Hom"o*phone, n. Etym: [Cf. F. homophone. See Homophonous.]

1. A letter or character which expresses a like sound with another. Gliddon.

2. A word having the same sound as another, but differing from it in meaning and usually in spelling; as, all and awl; bare and bear; rite, write, right, and wright.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 May 2025

DESIRABLE

(adjective) worth having or seeking or achieving; “a desirable job”; “computer with many desirable features”; “a desirable outcome”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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