Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
homogamy
homogenate
homogeneity
homogeneous
homogeneous catalysis
homogeneous product
homogenize
homogenous
homogeny
homograft
homograph
homoio-
homoiotherm
Homoiousian
homolog
homologate
homological
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

homonym

hom·o·nym [ hómmənim ] (plural hom·o·nyms)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. word with same spelling or sound: a word that is spelled or pronounced in the same way as one or more other words but has a different meaning. Examples include the noun and adjective "fleet," "plane" and "plain," pronounced the same but spelled differently, and the verb and noun "sow," spelled the same but pronounced differently.
See also  homographhomophone (sense 1)


2. somebody with same name: somebody with the same name as somebody else

3. biology duplicate taxonomic name: a taxonomic name that is the same as one already designating a different species or genus and cannot therefore be used

[Late 17th century. < Latin homonymum< Greek homōnumos (see homonymous)]

hom·o·nym·ic [ hòmmə nímmik ] adjective
hom·o·nym·i·ty [ hòmmə nímmətee ] noun
ho·mon·y·my [ hə mónnəmee ] noun
Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft