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homonymic

homonymic

9.9
Describing words that sound the same but have different meanings
  • adjective
  • /ˌhɒməˈnɪmɪk/
translation icon : homónimo
  • In "The Way of the Wind," for example, Swinburne typically employs the most controversial form of rime riche, homonymic rhyme, by rhyming "swallow... swallow," where the first word is a bird and the latter is a verb.
  • homonymic clash

Examples

  • In all likelihood, the homonymic clash between the two verbs at issue arose late and was at most the final step in the death of acender, a verb which may have already been mortally weakened by its rivalry with its synonym encender.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Presumably, the homonymic quality of the words is responsible for the transference.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Here, Swinburne does separate the homonymic rime riche, as prosodists such as Dobson mandated.

    Academic text (2017)
  • I fix the agreement between nouns and verbs, repair the homonymic misspellings, change flaunt to flout, insert periods, and start new sentences.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Legal historians connect the American TWEA with the homonymic British war regulations of 1915-1916, which introduced a comprehensive system of sanctions against Germany, including blacklisting persons and entities of third countries suspected of acting in the interest of Germany. (26)

    Academic text (2018)
  • In linguistics, the study of homonymic words helps us understand how one word can have multiple meanings.

  • The homonymic nature of 'bark' as both a tree covering and a dog's sound can cause confusion in written texts.

  • Teachers often explain homonymic relationships to students by using examples like 'bat', which can refer to a flying mammal or a piece of sports equipment.

Synonyms

homonymous
vshomonymic
9.3

Words with the same spelling or sound but different meanings

is broader, relating to that same word relationship rather than specifying spelling or pronunciation

Surface Forms

homonymic positive

Morphology

homonymic = homonym (transparent) = homonym + ic

The adjective is a regular, productive formation from the noun 'homonym' with the adjectival suffix '-ic', so the meaning 'relating to homonyms' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Homonymic comes from Greek parts homo- meaning 'same' and onoma meaning 'name'. So, it describes words that share the 'same name' or sound but have different meanings, like 'right' and 'write'.