homonymous

American  

[huh-mon-uh-muhs, hoh-] / həˈmɒn ə məs, hoʊ- /

adjective

1. of the nature of homonyms; having the same name.

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Usage

What does homonymous mean? If two words are described as homonymous, it means they are homonyms—words that have different meanings but are pronounced the same or spelled the same or both.Homonymous can also mean having the same name.The word homonym can be used as a synonym for both homophone and homograph. It can also be used to refer to words that are both homophones and homographs.Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings, whether they’re spelled the same or not. There, their, and they’re are homophones. But so are bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the covering of a tree).Homographs are words that have the same spelling but different meanings, whether they’re pronounced the same or not. Bass (the fish, rhymes with class) and bass (the instrument, rhymes with ace) are homographs. But so are bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the covering of a tree).As you can see, the two senses of bark can be considered both homographs and homophones. The word homonym can also be used to refer to such words—meaning they have both the same spelling and the same pronunciation, but different meanings.The related noun homonymy refers to the relationship between words that are homonyms.Example: Many English words are homonymous, which can make things confusing, even for native speakers.

Other Word Forms

• homonymously adverb

Etymology

Origin of homonymous

1615–25; < Latin homōnymus < Greek homṓnymos of the same name, equivalent to hom ( o )- homo- + -ōnymos named, adj. derivative of ónyma name, -onym (for vowel lengthening anonymous ); -ous

Example Sentences

Ahead of the rafts, the town's homonymous river flickers and glows as locals place 3,000 flaming coconuts into its waters to guide the balsadas to the town square.

From BBC

Seb is also the Egyptian name for a certain species of goose, and, in accordance with the homonymous tendency of the mythological period of all nations, the god and the bird were identified.*

From Project Gutenberg

The double tenotomy of the externi performed on January 2nd was first followed by convergent squint with homonymous double images, which were united by a prism of 12° with the base inwards.

From Project Gutenberg

The etymology of the word is difficult; the word may be one in origin, or may be a homonymous term, one in sound and spelling but with different origin in each different meaning.

From Project Gutenberg

‘The constellations here called the Rikshas, in the sense of the “bright ones,” would be homonymous in Sanskrit with the Bears.

From Project Gutenberg