Standard Lemma guide

homoglyph

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation, UK: hŏʹmōglĭf
  • Received-Pronunciation, UK: /ˈhɒməʊɡlɪf/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A character identical or nearly identical in appearance to another, but which differs in the meaning it represents; thus, in character encoding terms, a character with an identical or near-identical glyph, or the glyph itself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, human-sciences, linguistics, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • The homoglyphs I (uppercase i) and l (lowercase L) confused many who typed in the URL.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: glyph

History

Etymology

First attested in 1938; formed as homo- (“same”) + glyph after homograph.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: homoglyphe — a character identical or nearly identical in appearance to another, but which differs in the meaning it represents
  • German: Homoglyph — a character identical or nearly identical in appearance to another, but which differs in the meaning it represents
  • Korean: 호모글리프 (homogeullipeu) — a character identical or nearly identical in appearance to another, but which differs in the meaning it represents
  • Russian: омо́глиф (omóglif) — a character identical or nearly identical in appearance to another, but which differs in the meaning it represents