Linguistics & Word Confusions: Homonym

Posted January 4, 2016 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Grammar Explanations, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
7 Mar 2023

A homonym is a type of linguistic word play with its own subsets (see Table 1 below). The two primary subsets are homographs (with the heteronym a subset of the homograph) and homophones (with its subset, heterographs).

If you break homonym apart:

Homo- means same

-onym means word, name

This means a homonym is spelled the same and sounds the same. It may also comprise one or more words (one word is the most common). Some of the Word Confusions about which I post are homonyms.

Why Writers Should Understand Word Play

I thought Sensei Michael put it very well in his post, “Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs”, <http://www.senseimichael.com/2013/04/17/homonyms-homophones-and-homographs/>: that “understanding these various forms of wordplay are important in composing and appreciating poetry, puns and jokes. A child with such an understanding would be on his way towards stronger literacy and mastery of the English language”. I do know that I’d prefer to have my attention caught by humor or emotion than by a word in the wrong context.

Click here for a quick look at the differences between them -nyms, -graphs, -phones, and -semys.

Table 1. Quick Re-cap of Linguistic Word Play
Spelling	Sounds	Meaning	Example
Homonym
same	same	different	bark (tree) bark (dog)
Homograph
same	same OR different	different	present (gift) present (introduce)
Heteronym **
same	different	different	row (argument) row (of seats)
Paronym **
different	different	derivative	childish from child preface from prefatio affect vs effect
Capitonym
same, except 1. Proper Noun 2. common noun	same or different	different	1. March (third month of the year) 2. march (high stepping)
Monosemy *
ONE word	same	only ONE meaning	aunt
Polysemy *
same	same or different	shares a common root	mouth (hole in your face) mouth (cave opening)
Homophone
same or different	same	different	rose (flower) rose (past tense of rise) fair fare
Heterograph
different	same	different	copy right (copy correctly) copyright (patent) copywrite (write copy)
* Monosemy is the opposite of polysemy. ** Paronym is the opposite of heteronym.

Linguistics and Word Confusions sometimes . . .

. . . involve the same words as it does here in this post on “Homograph”. Whereas a Word Confusion is a pair (or more) of words that are confused spelling-wise with each other, Linguistics may jump in because of the confusion involved in how the words are used within the structural rules and principles of English.

As I discover more examples, also-known-ases, and additions, I’ll update this post. If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate you contacting me. If you found this post on “Homonym” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Homonym

Part of Speech: Semantics, Word Play, Figure of Speech

Definition: Words that sound alike and are spelled the same but have different meanings.

Homonyms may be:

Near synonyms with differing nuances of meaning
Words whose meanings are frequently misconstrued altogether
Trite, overworked, or stilted words

Examples:

bow	front of a ship bend from the waist
chip	short for potato chip a small piece of something removed a small chunk of chocolate a microchip
lie	tell an untruth assume a horizontal position on a flat surface
rose	a flower get up
set	place an object(s) in a particular place an expression of a period of time harden into solid state
sic	used in quotations to indicate an original misspelling, etc. incite someone or something to attack
watch	a timepiece usually worn on the wrist to observe attentively
wave	a hand movement that may indicate hello or goodbye a long body of water curling into an arched form
worsted	came off poorly in a fight a type of wool
yard	a unit of measure equal to three feet round horizontal spar fastened to a mast a piece of ground adjoining a house or building

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Linguistics posts by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Homonym

Moore, Carol. “Explanation of Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, and Heteronyms.” Buzzy Bee Riddles. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.magickeys.com/books/riddles/words.html>.

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