heteronym

Coined around 1900, either from hetero- (“different”) +‎ -onym (“name”) or from Ancient Greek ἑτερώνυμος (heterṓnumos), or perhaps both.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛt.əɹ.ə(ʊ).nɪm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛt.ə.ɹoʊ.nɪm/, /ˈhɛt.ə.ɹə.nɪm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

heteronym (plural heteronyms)

1. (linguistics) A word having the same spelling as another but a different meaning, and, often, a different pronunciation.

   Coordinate term: capitonym

   Near-synonyms: heterophone, homograph

   The word lead (/ˈlɛd/), for the metal, and lead (/ˈliːd/), for a leash, are heteronyms.

   The word agape, "astonished" or "wide open," is a heteronym of agape, "Christian love."

2. (literature) A fictitious character created by an author for the purpose of writing in a different style.

• Category:English heteronyms
• homonym
• polyphone (a letter [or combination of letters] that can be pronounced in two or more different ways, such as 長 / 长 in Chinese, pronounced [cháng] in the sense of ’long’ and [zhǎng] in the sense of ’to grow’)