Homonym Notes

homonym list • words for further study

Sources

• Roger's Reference's Dictionary of Homonyms and Homophones
• Alan Cooper's Homonyms

Guidelines I used for including or excluding words:

• I sometimes use contractions like why’re (and wire) because they’re fun.
• I generally don't use proper names but sometimes can't help myself, like with
  • Ceres/series
  • Claus/clause/claws
  • Cher/share
  • Cokes/coax
  • dhow/Dow
• I do use foreign words when English speakers often use them, e.g. ciao (w/chow)
• I include a plural if it is the only way the word appears, i.e. there is no singular form of "breeches" (kind of pants).
• If I can’t find the definition of a word easily (i.e. using my dictionary or googling "define:[word]," then I don’t include the word. Unless it's really interesting, whereupon I may consult the OED, then make a final decision.
• I do include some archaic/obsolete/historical words if I easily found their definitions (e.g. guimpe); but I shy away from words that, for instance, you can only find in Chaucer, like "sye" and "sey," or "renne."
• I keep pairs which, in theory, have different pronunciations, but which I can’t hear the difference, e.g. griffin / griphon.
• I check every pair, so all of these words exist. For instance, for words like "herl" and "housebote" I didn’t just take the word of Roger’s Reference or any of my other sources. I checked them all in dictionaries.
• Some words I include more than once because they have different pronunciations that form homonyms with different words. For instance "plait" can sound like both "plate" and "plat."
• I don't include words which seem to be just alternate spellings, for instance "policlinic" and "polyclinic."

Pairs other lists include but which I find sound too different from each other:

• census, senses
• madder, matter
• plaintiff, plaintive
• ordinance, ordnance
• ladder, latter
• lair, layer
• exercise/exorcise (even though an alternative pronunciation of "exorcise" makes it a homonym of "exercise")
  
• cud, khud

Words or pairs which don't feel right:

• pinion/piñon--I much prefer the Spanish pronunciation; the other feels wrong. Maybe that's 'cause I'm a southern Californian.
• miled--past tense of verb "to mile"? Sorry.
• compear, compeer--both are too obscure
• pressed / prest--latter too archaic
• ratten / ratton--both too obscure
• brew/broo--Scots dialect for "forehead," too obscure)
• smout/smowt -- both too obscure, but they're fun words

Some hard calls:

• maggot / magot, muscat / musket (pronunciations close but not close enough)
• jewel / joule--dictionaries say they have different pronunciations. In American English, though, people commonly use the same pronunciation for both.
• soccer/socker--"socker" seems like it oughta' be a word, but I couldn’t find any usage of it.
• consonance / consonants--I used this one even though I’m not sure about the "t" pronunciation (but see continence / continents).
• crunchie / crunchy--former is very obscure; but I like it so kept it in.
• deformity/difformity--latter too obscure
• forego/forgo--the latter is an archaic word for "precede" or an alternative spelling of the former. Clos but no sig are.
• diver / dyvour--latter really obscure, but I like the pair so kept it in.
• formal / formyl--pronunciations slightly different
• gimel / gimmal--seems like allowing letters and words from other languages opens up a can of lombrices (that's "worms" in Spanish).
• reast / reest--though "reest" (i.e. reestit mutton) has sentimental value to me, these two words are just too obscure. And both seem interchangable spelling-wise.