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HOMONYMS

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Before we start- ‘-nym’ is originated from the Greek word onoma which means ‘name’

Homonyms origin Greek homo – ‘same’ and onoma ‘name’

WORDS WITH MORE THAN ONE MEANING-WORDS WITH SEVERAL MEANINGS — WORDS

WITH MULTIPLE MEANINGS

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How can lead be a verb meaning to go first and also the name of a heavy metal?

How can bear be a noun for a type of animal and also a verb meaning carry?

One of the surprising things about English language is the way in which it tolerates the existence of homonyms like heroin (first recorded in 1898 and at first pronounced /hi'raum/, stressed on the second syllable), and heroine (first recorded c 1659), with no suggestion that one word is threatening the other.

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Since English is an invaded language — it has been influenced by many other languages over its long history. Words which now look the same might have come from entirely different sources. Some words might have started from the same source but gradually acquired different shades of meaning between, say, the 13th and 16th centuries.

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Diff. b/w Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs

Homonym, a word of the same spelling or sound as another but of different meaning. Homonyms identical in spelling include calf (young bovine animal), derived from Old English caelf, and calf (fleshy hind part of the human leg), derived from Old Norse* kolfi. And those identical in sound but not in spelling include tail (of an animal), derived from OE tsegl; and tale (narrative), derived from OE talu. Examples of the first type are called homographs, and those of the second homophones.

• *Norse is the language that was spoken in Scandinavian** countries in medieval times.• **Scandinavian means belonging or relating to a group of northern European countries that includes

Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, or to the people, languages, or culture of those countries.

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Oxford Dictionary defines homonyms as, “Each of two or more words having the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings and origins”.

Always remember that it is the function or use that determines to which part of speech a word belongs in a given sentence.

(a list follows…)

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• air Breathe it or sing it?The word for the air we breathe came into English

from Old French about 800 years ago.Air can also mean the manner or appearance or the

impression a person makes, in statements like "She had a distinctive air about her". That came from a different French word in the later 1500s.

Air can also mean a melody or a tune. With this meaning, it was borrowed from the Italian word aria.

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ball A round object or a dance?The spherical object used in games gets its name

from an Old Norse word, bollr. It came into English around the 13th century and was known as a balle.

In Middle English, ballen meant to dance. It came from an Old French word, baller. Its use as a noun to describe an organised dance started in the 17th century. The word ballet came into English at about the same time but was adapted from the Italian balletto, meaning a little dance.

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bank The side of a river or a place for money?Meaning the edge of a river or a raised area of ground, bank came into English in the 12th century. It was adapted from Scandinavian words like Swedish backe and Danish banke.

In Middle English, bank meant a mound or a shore. Bonk meant mound of earth. The word for a financial institution came into English in the 15th century, adapted from such words as Italian bance and French banque.

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boil Two meanngsVerb. To boil water, making it bubble and steam.

First appeared in print in English around 1300, from French words like boillir, buillir, which came from Latin bullire, meaning to buble, to steam.

Noun. An unpleasant and painful swelling on the skin has been used since Old English byle, which meant a boil or a carbuncle/spot. There are similar words in other European languages because it has a very long history in the Indo European language group.

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boot On your foot, a car, or your computer?The footwear word came into English in the 14th century from Old

French bote. Its earlier history is not known for certain, but it might be related to butt, meaning something blunt and stumpy.

It is used for the luggage compartment of a car derives from the word used from the 16th century for an open area on a coach where attendants would sit or stand. It was also used for the space beneath a seat where luggage could be stored. The origin of this usage seems to be lost in the mists of time. Perhaps it related to the idea that a boot was a sort of container.

But how is it that we boot up a computer? Well, footwear comes into this one, too. In the 19th century, a bootstrap was attached to a boot to help in pulling it on. To bootstrap was to go through the first part of the procedure of putting on one's boots. In the early 1960s, the term was adopted to denote the process of getting a computer ready for work.

Boot used to have another meaning related to ‘advantage’ or to something given as extra to what was already there. An example of this usage could be in a statement such as, ‘This food is rich and tasty, and colourful to boot’. In this case, boot comes from Old English bot, benefit, compensation. Middle English had bote, meaning remedy, repair. They are related to Old High German buoza, improvement.

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countverb: to check a number of things in

sequence to see how many there are. Adopted into English in the 13th century from Old French conter.

noun: the act of counting. As above.noun: title of a nobleman in some European

countries. 16th century from Old French conte.

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curryNoun. The name of the spicy Indian food comes

from a Tamil word, kari. It was first used in English in the late 1600s.

Verb. When you curry a horse you do not cook it in spices! You comb it with a currycomb. This form of curry probably comes from 14th century French words meaning to prepare, to make ready, a horse. The figurative phrase "curry a favour“ means to seek a favour by perhaps devious means — it's rather like being nice to a horse so that it will be nice to you!

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fair1. Adjective. Meaning lovely or beautiful, when

describing someone, it comes from Old Englishfæger, beautiful. This meaning is not used very

much nowadays, apart from in poetry.2. Adjective. Meaning of light complexion, or light

coloured (blonde) hair, it has been used in English for over 800 years.

3. Adjective. Meaning reasonable, equitable, free from self-interest, it developed in the 14th century.

4. Noun. Meaning a gathering of people to sell and barter goods, or to enjoy entertainment, and also a travelling show of rides, stalls and sideshows, this form of the word came into English from French in the 14th century.

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And so

we see how words

work…Given is a list of homonyms use them in

sentences to bring out their meaning…

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Yard, wound, wind, well, trip, top, toll, tip, till, tide, tick, tense, tender, tap, state, squash, spring, row, rest, refuse, race, pupil, press, organ, object, pine, note, mint, mind, mean, match, magazine, long, lock, litter, light, lean, interest, hawk, gum, flat, firm

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A few more…but with a hint.. • Bear (animal) and bear (carry)• lean (thin) and lean (rest against)• plain (ordinary looking) and plain (flat

country)• skip (to jump) and skip (to miss out)• miss (unmarried woman) and miss (to

overlook)

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• train (a loco and trucks) and train (to teach)

• fluke (a stroke of luck Fluke ( the fins on a whales tail)

• bow (bend forward) bow (front of a ship)• quail (cower/tremble) quail (bird)• lie (horizontal position) lie (falsehood or

untruth expressed as truth)• blue (the color) blue (the feeling of

sadness)

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Keep your eyes and ears open and till the next examination, maintain a list of words used as two different parts of speech or which have two different meanings.