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Glite Dictionary
🎶 One main melody 🔊 Same sound, different meaning
homophony

homophony

9.6
Two or more words that sound the same but have different meanings
  • noun
  • /həˈmɑːfəni/
  • Specialized
translation icon : homofonía
  • An example of homophony is the words 'bare' and 'bear', which sound alike but have different meanings.

It's known as homophony and it occurs in English, for instance with Jill spelt GI double L or Ji double L, or Katherine spelt with AC or with AK.

Examples

  • The title exploits the homophony (or quasi-homophony) of words that have different meanings, thus establishing a connection between those meanings (Pray TV preys on you, Wilde was wild, etc.).

    Academic text (1996)

  • To reject the writers' temptation to retreat into autism, Djebar plays on the homophony of the two words "entre" and "antre."

    Academic text (2002)

  • One of the best (and least known) homophonies in scholarly titles is Claude Levi-Strauss, La Pensee.

    Academic text (1996)

  • It's known as homophony and it occurs in English, for instance with Jill spelt GI double L or Ji double L, or Katherine spelt with AC or with AK.

    The Royal Institution

  • The title exploits the homophony (or quasi-homophony) of words that have different meanings, thus establishing a connection between those meanings (Pray TV preys on you, Wilde was wild, etc.).

    Academic text (1996)

  • In English, homophony can be seen when the word 'flower' and 'flour' are pronounced the same way, yet refer to different things.

  • The use of homophony can create puns, such as in the phrase 'time flies when you’re having fun', where it plays on the sound of 'flies' and 'flies' as both an insect and the action of moving quickly.

Synonyms

homonymy
vshomophony
9.9

Two words that look or sound the same but have different meanings

restricts the relation to pronunciation only and notes separate origins

Surface Forms

homophony singular
homophonies plural

Morphology

homophony = homophone (transparent) = homo + phon + y

The noun denotes the state or quality of being homophones (i.e., 'same-sound'), a direct abstract noun formation from the base 'homophone'.

Etymology

Homophony comes from Greek parts homo- ('same') and phōnē ('sound'), the same root as phone in telephone. So in language homophony means different words share the 'same sound', like 'knight' and 'night'.