heterophone

English

Etymology

hetero- +‎ -phone

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hĕʹtərōfōn, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛtəɹəʊfəʊn/

Noun

heterophone (plural heterophones)

1. A word with multiple pronunciations.

Usage notes

• Heterophony is very common since it can include words with a single spelling but multiple pronunciations, with regionally varying spellings and pronunciations, and closely related homeographs that are pronounced differently; for example, the four different pronunciations among six alternative spellings of ailurophile.

Related terms

• heterophonic
• heterophonous
• heterophony

Translations

a word whose spelling is the same but sound differs from another’s

• Hungarian: heterofon, hasonló alakú és kiejtésű, azonos jelentésű szó

See also

Euler diagram of choice semantic relations.

Nyms (with category [cat] if any)

Noun (cat)	Sound	Spelling	Meaning	phone/graph
identical	same	same	same	homophone & homograph
homophone (cat)	same	different	different	homophone & heterograph
alternative spelling	same	different	same	homophone & heterograph
homonym	same	same	different	homophone & homograph
synonym	different	different	same	heterophone & heterograph
heteronym (cat)	different	same	different	heterophone & homograph
alternative pronunciation	different	same	same	heterophone & homograph
distinct	different	different	different	heterophone & heterograph