homophonous Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective characteristic of the phenomenon of words of different origins that are pronounced the same way
    • 'horse' and 'hoarse' are homophonous words

WordNet


Ho`mo*phon"ic, Ho*moph"o*nous adjective (Also<
  • Homophonic
  • Homophonous
)
Etymology
Gr. the same + sound, tone: cf. F. homophone.
Definitions
  1. (Mus.) (a) Originally, sounding alike; of the same pitch; unisonous; monodic. (b) Now used for plain harmony, note against note, as opposed to polyphonic harmony, in which the several parts move independently, each with its own melody.
  2. Expressing the same sound by a different combination of letters; as, bay and bey.

Webster 1913