homonymy
(həʊˈmɒnɪmɪ)
Also 7 erron. -imie, -omie.
[ad. late L. homōnymia, a. Gr. ὁµωνυµία, f. ὁµώνυµος (see prec.). Cf. F. homonymie (1606 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
The quality of being homonymous; the use of the same name for different things, as in Taxonomy, etc.; † equivocation, ambiguity (obs.); sameness of name with difference of sense.
| [1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 65 Homonymia, whiche maie be called in Englishe, the doubtfulnesse of one woorde, when it signifieth diversly.] 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 150 You play upon the Homonymie of the word Loue. 1616 Bullokar, Homonymie, a terme in Logicke, when one word signifieth diuers things: as Hart: signifying a beast, and a principall member of the body. 1751 Harris Hermes (1841) 181 Proper names..often fall into homonymie, that is, different persons often go by the same name. 1847 Grote Greece i. xviii. (1849) II. 24 There existed certain homonymies and certain affinities of religious worship, between parts of Bœotia and parts of Thessaly. 1896 Walsingham & Durrant Rules for Nomencl. 9 A name homophonous with a valid name is invalid in accordance with the rule governing homonymy. 1964 [see homonymous a. 1]. |