Definition of "homonym" [hom•o•nym]

• One of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning, such as bank (embankment) and bank (place where money is kept). (noun)
• A word used to designate several different things. (noun)
• A namesake. (noun)
• Biology A taxonomic name identical to one previously applied to a different species or genus and therefore unacceptable in its new use. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The first disagreement I have with her is in her use of the term homonym, which she defines as "[a word] looking the same, but differing in meaning"
• "Technically a homonym is both a homophone (different words that sound the same) and a homograph (different words that are spelled the same)."
• "I learned the word homonym in grade school for words that sound the same but have different meanings."