What does "homonym" mean?

A word that sounds or is spelled the same as another word (but not necessarily both).; A word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word.

What is a synonym for "homonym"?

Common synonyms include: actual thing, antonym, articulation, carbon copy, copy, dead ringer.

Homonym

//ˈhɒmənɪm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A word that sounds or is spelled the same as another word (but not necessarily both).; A word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word. broadly
2
two words are homonyms if they are pronounced and spelled the same way but have different meanings wordnet
3
A word that sounds or is spelled the same as another word (but not necessarily both).; A name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another name that belongs to a different taxon. broadly

Synonyms

All synonyms

actual thing antonym articulation carbon copy copy dead ringer

Example

More examples

"I don't know any Tajik homonym."

Etymology

From Latin homōnymum, from Ancient Greek ὁμώνυμον (homṓnumon), nominalized from the neuter of ὁμώνῠμος (homṓnŭmos, “homonymous”). By surface analysis, hom- + -onym.

More for "homonym"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.