Language · 2
What is the term for a word that has the same spelling and pronunciation as another but a completely different meaning and origin?
Answer
Homonym
A homonym is a word that shares both spelling and pronunciation with another word but differs in meaning and etymological origin — for example, 'bank' (financial institution) and 'bank' (river edge). This distinguishes homonyms from homophones, which sound alike but are spelled differently, and from polysemes, which share an origin.
💡 Did you know?
The word 'set' holds the record for the most definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary, with over 430 — making it one of the most extreme examples of homonymy and polysemy combined.
Other options people guess
- Homophone
- Synonym
- Polyseme
Topics
- linguistics
- vocabulary
- grammar
- word-origins
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