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homophonous

homophonous

9.9
Words that sound the same but have different meanings or spellings
  • adjective
  • /ˌhoʊməˈfɑnəs/
translation icon : homófono
  • For students learning a new language, understanding that 'pair' and 'pear' are homophonous can help prevent miscommunication.

Examples

  • Among the things to avoid in matters of death is dying in one's eighty-first year, lest future generations become beggars (homophonous with the number 81).

    Academic text (1998)
  • Eggs are a symbol of fertility, to be sure; the word for egg, zi, is also homophonous with son.

    Academic text (1998)
  • This test cannot be applied universally; however, in many languages, the words for 'not' and 'no' are homophonous, so the relevant data are unrevealing.

    Academic text (2006)
  • After all, these adverbials have homophonous counterparts that function to modify some constituent within the proposition.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Called zi cha (egg tea, egg being homophonous with son), it is said to assist in having many sons.

    Academic text (1998)
  • With prompting (and often without), students will recognize the incongruity between the aunt written in the title and the homophonous ant pictured below, leading to the discovery that this book might invite them to play with words.

    Academic text (2015)
  • In English, the words 'flour' and 'flower' are homophonous, sounding the same but having different meanings.

  • Common examples of homophonous words include 'to', 'two', and 'too' which sound alike but have different meanings.

Synonyms

homophonic
vshomophonous
8.8

Sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning or spelling

is stricter, requiring exactly the same pronunciation
homonymous
vshomophonous
9.3

Words with the same spelling or sound but different meanings

restricts meaning to pronunciation only, not spelling
homonymic
vshomophonous
9.9

Describing words that sound the same but have different meanings

focuses specifically on pronunciation not general form

Surface Forms

homophonous positive

Morphology

homophonous = homophone (transparent) = homo + phon + ous

Formed by adding the adjective suffix '-ous' to the noun 'homophone', the meaning 'having the quality of homophones' is directly derived.

Etymology

Homophonous comes from the parts homo- ('same') and phone ('sound' or 'voice'), the same root you see in homophone and telephone. So homophonous describes words that 'sound the same' even though they have different meanings.