homophonic

adjective

ho·​mo·​pho·​nic ˌhä-mə-ˈfä-nik How to pronounce homophonic (audio)
ˌhō-,
-ˈfō-
1
2
: of or relating to homophones
homophony noun

Examples of homophonic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The letters used what’s known as a homophonic cipher, the researchers explain in a study published on Tuesday in the journal Cryptologia. Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 8 Feb. 2023 The encryption turned out to be a homophonic cipher, in which each letter of the alphabet can be encoded in several different ways. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Feb. 2023 So homophonic ciphers used multiple symbols interchangeably for high-frequency letters, Lasry says. Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 8 Feb. 2023 Mary used what is called a homophonic cipher, where each letter is replaced with a certain symbol. Town & Country, 8 Feb. 2023 The ciphers were homophonic, meaning each letter of the alphabet could be encoded using several cipher symbols, according to the researchers. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Feb. 2023 The data set for evaluating the model consisted of homophonic puns, normal sentences, and ambiguous nonsense sentences. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2014 AZdecrypt, software used for decoding homophonic substitutions. Stephen Ornes, Discover Magazine, 18 Dec. 2021 Novel features based on graph theoretical concepts are proposed and computed for the identification of homophonic jokes. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2014

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homophonic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Greek homophōnos being in unison, from hom- + phōnē sound — more at ban entry 1

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of homophonic was in 1879

Dictionary Entries Near homophonic

Cite this Entry

“Homophonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homophonic. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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