heteronym

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heteronym

/ˈhɛt.əɹ.ə(ʊ).nɪm/ UK
/ˈhɛt.ə.ɹoʊ.nɪm/ US
/ˈhɛt.ə.ɹə.nɪm/ US

Where it comes from

By surface analysis, hetero (“different”) + -onym (“name”). Compare Ancient Greek ἑτερώνυμος (heterṓnumos). First attested in 1885 in sense 1. The coining of this term in sense 3 (as Portuguese heterónimo) is usually attributed to Fernando Pessoa.

noun heteronyms

dated Calque.
A word having the same spelling as another, but with a different meaning and (often) pronunciation. Near-synonyms: heterophone, homograph
Similar: heterophone, homograph
A fictitious character created by an author for the purpose of writing in a different style. […] the present paper aims at illuminating the origins of the concept under study, as well as presenting its readers with the reasons why certain characters in some of Yeats’s works go beyond mere masks and personae and fulfil the criteria to be considered as heteronyms.

Translations

Every language

noun word having the same spelling but different pronunciation

Español	heterónimo
Português	heterónimo, heterônimo
Français	hétéronyme
Deutsch	Heteronym
Ελληνικά	ετερώνυμο eterónymo
Русский	омо́граф omógraf, гетеро́ним getɛrónim

noun fictitious character writing in a different style

Español	heterónimo
Português	heterónimo, heterônimo
Français	hétéronyme
Русский	гетеро́ним getɛrónim

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Cite this

MLA

"heteronym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/heteronym. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

heteronym. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/heteronym

Chicago

"heteronym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/heteronym.

BibTeX

@misc{heteronym_2026,
  title = {heteronym},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/heteronym},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}