Homonym

The word homonym comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος (homonumos), meaning

"having the same name", which is the conjunction of ὁμός (homos), meaning "common, same" and ὄνομα (onoma)

meaning "name". Thus, it refers to two or more distinct concepts sharing the "same

name" or signifier.

Several similar linguistic concepts which are related to homonymy.

Term Meaning Spelling Pronunciation

Homonym Different Same Same

Homophone Different Same or different Same

Homograph Different Same Same or different

Heteronym Different Same Different

Examples of homonyms: stalk (part of a plant) stalk (follow/harass a person) left (past tense of leave) left (opposite of right) skate (glide on ice) skate (the fish) mouth (of a river) mouth (of an animal)

Examples of homophones: great (size) and grate ( the metal frame) right (good) and write (to make words) see (use eyes) and sea (a large area of salt water) raise (to lift sth up and rays (a line of light) teas (hot drinks) and tease (to laugh at sb) pour (to flow out of) and paw (the foot of animals) a rose (flower) and rose (past tense of rise) too (more than is good) and two (number) there (in, at, to that place) and their (belonging to

them) know (have information) and no (used for giving a

negative reply)

Examples of homographs fish (an animal that lives in water) to fish (to try to catch fish) a bow (the front part of a ship) to bow (to bend your head) bark (the sound of a dog) bark (the skin of a tree)

Examples of heteronyms desert /dɨˈzɜrt/ (to abandon) desert /ˈdɛzərt/ (arid region); row /ˈraʊ/ (to argue or an argument) row /ˈroʊ/ (as in to row a boat or a row of seats ) bass /ˈbæs/ (fish) bass/ˈbeɪs/ (voice) close /ˈkloʊz/( to shut) close /ˈkloʊs/(nearby) house/ˈhaʊs/(a residential building) house /ˈhaʊz/ ( to place in residence) live/ˈlɪv/ (to be alive) live /ˈlaɪv/(having life) record /ˈrɛkərd/(physical information) record /rɨˈkɔrd/( to make a record)

Compound nounsModifier Head Compound

noun noun football

adjective noun blackboard

verb noun breakwater

preposition noun underworld

noun adjective snowwhite

adjective adjective blue-green

verb adjective tumbledown

preposition adjective over-ripe

noun verb browbeat

noun preposition love-in

Compounds can be written as one word

Examples: housewife lawsuit wallpaper basketball airfare homework classwork raincoat

Compounds can be written as two words joined by a hyphen

Examples: house-builder single-mindedness blue-green freeze-dried rent-a-cop mother-of-pearl salt-and-pepper

Compounds can be written as two separate words

Examples: free parking credit cards driving licence tour bus hotel receptionist distance learning player piano lawn tennis foreign currency reservation department pedestrian area

Sound patterns For example: a black board (adjective plus noun) has equal stress on both elements the White House (normally has a falling intonation) a phrase a white house does not