different between identical vs homoiophone

English

Etymology

From identic +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??d?nt?kl?/, /a??d?nt?kl?/
• Hyphenation: i?den?ti?cal

Adjective

identical (comparative more identical, superlative most identical)

1. (not comparable) Bearing full likeness by having precisely the same set of characteristics; indistinguishable.
2. (not comparable) Not different or other; not another or others; not different as regards self; selfsame; numerically identical.
3. (not comparable, biology) Of twins, sharing the same genetic code.
4. (not comparable, mathematics) Exactly equivalent.
5. (comparable, rare) Approximating or approaching exact equivalence.
   • 1788, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, The Federalist, XLI:

     The terms of Article 8th are still more identical.

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:identical.

Usage notes

• In mathematics, this adjective can be used in phrases like "A and B are identical", "A is identical to B", and, less commonly, "A is identical with B".
• Adverbs often used with "identical": absolutely, almost, nearly, practically, virtually, substantially.

Synonyms

• (bearing full likeness): same
• (selfsame): same, selfsame

Antonyms

• contrasting
• different
• distinct
• non-identical

Coordinate terms

• (of twins): dizygotic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

identical (plural identicals)

1. (usually pluralized, chiefly philosophy) Something which has exactly the same properties as something else.
2. An identical twin.

Derived terms

• indiscernibility of identicals

References

• identical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• identical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• identical at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ctenidial, diclinate, dinetical

English

Alternative forms

• homeophone, homoeophone, homœophone

Etymology

homoi- (“similar”) +? -o- +? -phone (“sound”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: h?moi??f?n, IPA^(key): /h??m???f??n/

Noun

homoiophone (plural homoiophones)

1. A word similar — but not identical — in pronunciation with another; compare homophone.
   • 1886: Stephen Denison Peet [ed.], The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, volume 8, page 349 (Jameson & Morse)

     This was through the existence of homophones and homoiophones in a language, of words with the same or similar sounds, but with diverse significations.

   • 1893: Johan Harold Josua Lindahl, Description of a Skull of Megalonyx Leidyi, page 56 (American Philosophical Society)

     This was through the existence of homophones and homoiophones, that is, of words with different meanings but the same or nearly the same sound.

   • 1911, July 6^th: Robert Seymour Bridges, Correspondence of Robert Bridges and Henry Bradley, 1900–1923, page 81 (The Clarendon Press)

     Have you any idea as to what ought to be done with what I believe you pepel call homophones or homoiophones. I hope that is not the right name for them. But is it not foolish to have an educated nation that refuses to readjust such inconveniences?

   • 1924: American Oriental Society Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 44, page 28

     By way of bringing this intricate and tedious dissertation to an end, allow me to recite a short specimen of the thing itself — a Siamese “jaw-breaker” which, for ingenious bewilderment by means of homoiophones, I am sure does not fall behind our “Theophilus Thistle the Thistle-sifter,” while in coloratura of intonation it certainly leaves that far behind.

   • 1987: Alan Allport [ed.], Language Perception and Production: Relationships Between Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, page 237 (Academic Press; ?ISBN, 9780120527502)

     Another explanation relates to the actual use of homophony-generating rules; perhaps pseudohomophones are not homophones but rather ‘homoiophones’, that is, phonologically similar but not exactly equal to their word mates.