homophonous
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does homophonous mean? Homophonous is used to describe words that are pronounced exactly the same. If two words are described as homophonous, it means they are homophones—words that sound the same but have different meanings, whether they’re spelled the same or not. There, their, and they’re are homophonous. So are bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the covering of a tree). As long as two (or more) words have the same pronunciation, they are homophonous. Example: Many English words are homophonous, which can make things confusing, even for native speakers.
Etymology
Origin of homophonous
1745–55; < Greek homóphōnos of the same sound; see homo-, phon-, -ous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The tussle between the popstar and the Australian fashion designer over the homophonous name began in 2008 when Taylor registered the "Katie Perry" brand in Australia.
From Reuters • Apr. 28, 2023
But she was hoisted by her own homophonous petard.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 3, 2021
Josh’s Darren Bennett: The pleasure and pain of sharing a homophonous surname with Zach LaVine.
From Slate • Dec. 10, 2018
The first is that the pie will be round—after all, if pies weren’t circular, their only relationship to pi would be homophonous.
From Slate • Mar. 13, 2015
In old Greek we and you were ημεις and υμεις: and those words became absolutely homophonous, so that one of them had to go.
From Society for Pure English, Tract 02 On English Homophones by Bridges, Robert Seymour
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
