Wich word.

Question

What is the word for two words that are spelt the same but mean something else?

Patrick Lockerby · Accepted Answer

Isomorphs

Mr Wordy · Answer

Homographs.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

homonym

Homonym, homophone, and homograph designate words that are identical to other words in spelling or pronunciation, or both, while differing from them in meaning and usually in origin.

Homophones are words that sound alike, whether or not they are spelled differently. The words pear “fruit,” pare “cut off,” and pair “two of a kind” are homophones that are different in spelling; bear “carry; support” and bear “animal” are homophones that are spelled alike.

Homographs are words that are spelled identically but may or may not share a pronunciation. Spruce “tree” and spruce “neat” are homographs, but so are row [roh] “line” and row [rou] “fight” as well as sewer [soo-er] “conduit for waste” and sewer [soh-er] “person who sews.”

Homonyms are, in the strictest sense, both homophones and homographs, alike in spelling and pronunciation, as the two forms bear. Homonym, however, is used more frequently than homophone, a technical term, when referring to words with the same pronunciation without regard to spelling. Homonym is also used as a synonym of homograph. Thus, it has taken on a broader scope than either of the other two terms and is often the term of choice in a nontechnical context.

Patrick Lockerby · Answer

I agree with you AlpheccaStars.

I offered 'isomorphs', meaning 'same shape' as applicable to both the 'shape' or orthography of text, and the 'shape' of speech morphemes.

Your answer is more applicable to conventional grammars.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Patrick LockerbyYour answer is more applicable to conventional grammars.

Patrick: It's a direct quote from the dictionary definition..

Patrick Lockerby · Answer

AlpheccaStars
Patrick LockerbyYour answer is more applicable to conventional grammars.
Patrick: It's a direct quote from the dictionary definition..

I'll bet that isn't a dictionary of scientific terms.

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