In linguistics, homonyms, broadly defined, are words which are homographs or homophones, or both. For example, according to this definition, the wordsrow, row and row are homonyms, as are the words see and sea. A more restrictive or technical definition sees homonyms as words that are simultaneously homographs and homophones – that is to say they have identical pronunciationand spelling, whilst maintaining different meanings. Examples are the pair stalk and stalk and the pair left and left. A distinction is sometimes made between true homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate and skate, and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth and mouth. The relationship between a set of homonyms is called homonymy, and the associated adjective is homonymous. The adjective "homonymous" can additionally be used wherever two items share the same name, independent of how closely they are or are not related in terms of their meaning or etymology.
Etymology
The word homonym comes from the Greek ὁμώνυμος, meaning "having the same name", which is the conjunction of ὁμός, "common, same, similar " and ὄνομα meaning "name". Thus, it refers to two or more distinct concepts sharing the "same name" or signifier. Note: for the h sound, see rough breathing and smooth breathing.
Related terms
Several similar linguistic concepts are related to homonymy. These include:
Homographs are usually defined as words that share the same spelling, regardless of how they are pronounced. If they are pronounced the same then they are also homophones - for example, bark and bark. If they are pronounced differently then they are also heteronyms - for example, bow and bow.
Homophones are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled. If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs ; if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs. Homographic examples include rose and rose. 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.
Heteronyms are the subset of homographs that have different pronunciations. Such words include desert and desert ; tear and tear ; row and row. Heteronyms are also sometimes called heterophones.
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 or river, are polysemous and may or may not be considered homonyms.
Capitonyms are words that share the same spelling but have different meanings when capitalized. Such words include polish and Polish ; march and March and the pair: reading and Reading.
Further examples
A further example of a homonym, which is both a homophone and a homograph, is fluke. Fluke can mean:
These meanings represent at least three etymologically separate lexemes, but share the one form, fluke.* Note that fluke is also a capitonym, in that Fluke Corporation 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 ; two meanings with two different pronunciations, and two distinct meanings sharing the same sound but different spellings. 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.
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.
there - "The bow shot the arrow there," he said as he pointed. "The bow shot the arrow there," she said as she 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 on Daddy's car.
