| homonym |
| Definition:
A word that is spelled the same as another word but which has a different meaning. Note: Such equivocal words that denote multiple this are described as being homonymous. |
| Example: Fluke (the type of fish) and fluke (a stroke of luck). |
| Etymology: The word derives via Latin from the Greek homonymos, same name (from homos, same + onyma, name). |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first OED citation is from 1697: "Those [words] that differ not in termination; as grammatica, the art of grammar, and grammatica, a woman, are not conjugates, but homonyms."
(tr. Burgersdicius his Logic i. xxv. 100) |