Editing Homonym (section)

{{For|homonyms in scientific nomenclature|Homonym (biology)}}
{{Short description|Words spelled or pronounced the same with different meanings}}

In [[linguistics]], '''homonyms''' are words which are either; ''[[homograph]]s''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or ''[[homophone]]s''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciation (regardless of spelling).<ref name="RHUD"/> Using this definition, the words ''row'' (propel with oars), ''row'' (a linear arrangement) and ''row'' (an argument) are homonyms because they are homographs (though only the first two are homophones); so are the words ''see'' (vision) and ''sea'' (body of water), because they are homophones (though not homographs).

A more restrictive and technical definition requires that homonyms be simultaneously homographs ''and'' homophones<ref name="RHUD">[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homonym homonym], ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' at dictionary.com</ref>—that is, they have identical spelling ''and'' pronunciation but different meanings. Examples include the pair ''stalk'' (part of a plant) and ''stalk'' (follow/harass a person) and the pair ''left'' ([[past tense]] of ''leave'') and ''left'' (opposite of ''right'').  

A distinction is sometimes made between true homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as ''skate'' (glide on ice) and ''skate'' (the fish), and [[Polysemy|polysemous]] homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as ''mouth'' (of a river) and ''mouth'' (of an animal).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/semanticsHANDOUT.htm |title=Linguistics 201: Study Sheet for Semantics |publisher=Pandora.cii.wwu.edu |access-date=2013-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617090717/http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/semanticsHANDOUT.htm |archive-date=2013-06-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AefSOW9MW5UC&pg=PA123 Semantics: a coursebook, p. 123], James R. Hurford and Brendan Heasley, Cambridge University Press, 1983</ref>

The relationship between a set of homonyms is called '''homonymy''', and the associated adjective is '''homonymous''', '''homonymic''', or in Latin, '''equivocal'''.<!--[[wikt:homonymy]],[[wikt:homonymity]],[[wikt:homonymous]],[[wikt:homonymic]]--> Additionally, the adjective ''homonymous'' can be used wherever two items share the same name,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homonymous|title=the definition of homonymous|website=Dictionary.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wordnik.com/words/homonymous|title=homonymous — definition, examples, related words and more at Wordnik|website=Wordnik.com}}</ref> independent of how closely they are related in terms of their meaning or etymology. For example, the word "once" (meaning "one time") is homonymous with the term for "eleven" in Spanish (''once'').