linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciation (regardless of spelling). 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'' homophoneshomonym
''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' at dictionary.com—that is, they have identical spelling ''and'' pronunciation but different meanings. Examples include the pair ''stalk'' (part of a plant) and ''stalk'' (follow/harass a person) and the pair ''left'' (

past tense The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some hav ...

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). The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy, and the associated adjective is homonymous, homonymic, or in Latin, equivocal. Additionally, the adjective ''homonymous'' can be used wherever two items share the same name, independent of how closely they are related in terms of their meaning or etymology. For example, the word "once" (meaning "one time") is homonymous with the term for "eleven" in Spanish (''once'').

Etymology

The word ''homonym'' comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος (''homonymos''), meaning "having the same name," compounded from ὁμός (''homos'') "common, same, similar" and ὄνομα (''onoma'') "name."

Related terms

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.Some sources restrict the term "homograph" to words that have the same spelling but ''different'' pronunciations. See, for example
''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems'', p. 215
(Wiley-Blackwell, 1999) and ''The Encyclopædia Britannica (14th Edition)'' (entry for "homograph"). 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.Some sources restrict the term "homophone" to words that have the same pronunciation but ''different'' spellings. See, for example
''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems'', p. 202
(Wiley-Blackwell, 1999) and ''The Encyclopædia Britannica (14th Edition)'' (entry for "homograph"). 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 or homoiophones. * Heteronyms (literally "different name") are the subset of homographs (words that share the same spelling) that have different pronunciations (and meanings).Some sources do not require that heteronyms have different pronunciations. See, for example, the archive
''Encarta'' dictionary entry
(which states that heteronyms "often" differ in pronunciation) and th

(which states that heteronyms "sometimes" have different pronunciations). 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"). * Homophenes (literally same appearance) are words that have different meanings and pronunciations, but look identical on the lips, rendering them indistinguishable in lipreading. * 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 Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

, 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 March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

'' (the third

month A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the cycle of Moon phases; such lunar mo ...

of the

Year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

) and the pair: '' reading'' (using a book) and Reading (towns in, among other places,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Further examples

A homonym which is both a homophone and a homograph is fluke, meaning: *A fish, and a flatworm. *The end parts of an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

. *The fins on a

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

's tail. *A stroke of luck. These meanings represent at least three etymologically separate

lexeme A lexeme () is a unit of lexical meaning that underlies a set of words that are related through inflection. It is a basic abstract unit of meaning, a unit of morphological analysis in linguistics that roughly corresponds to a set of forms ta ...

s, but share the one form, fluke. 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 instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

s such as the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

*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 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

*bow – a weapon to shoot projectiles with (e.g. a bow and arrow) A lime can refer to a

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

or a

material A material is a matter, substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an Physical object, object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical property, physical ...

. A mold (mould) can refer to a

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

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

Homonymy can lead to communicative conflicts and thus trigger lexical ( onomasiological) change.On this phenomenon see Williams, Edna R. (1944), ''The Conflict of Homonyms in English'', ale Studies in English 100 New Haven: Yale University Press, Grzega, Joachim (2004), ''Bezeichnungswandel: Wie, Warum, Wozu? Ein Beitrag zur englischen und allgemeinen Onomasiologie'', Heidelberg: Winter, p. 216ff., and Grzega, Joachim (2001d), “Über Homonymenkonflikt als Auslöser von Wortuntergang”, in: Grzega, Joachim (2001c), ''Sprachwissenschaft ohne Fachchinesisch: 7 aktuelle Studien für alle Sprachinteressierten'', Aachen: Shaker, p. 81-98. This is known as ''homonymic conflict''. This leads to a species of

informal fallacy Informal fallacies are a type of incorrect argument in natural language. The source of the error is not just due to the ''form'' of the argument, as is the case for formal fallacies, but can also be due to their ''content'' and ''context''. Fallac ...

of thought and argument called by the latin name equivocation.

Etymology

Related terms

Further examples

Homonyms in historical linguistics

See also

Notes

References

Further reading