Homo Words: “homonym” to “homozygote”
Part 2 of 2.
Words that include: homo-, hom- (Greek: same, equal, like, similar, common; one and the same).
Don’t confuse this Greek homo- element with the Latin homo- which means “mankind”.
This Greek prefix forms many scientific and other terms, often in opposition to hetero-.
homonym, homonymic, homonymous:
1. A word that is spelled or pronounced in the same way as one or more other words but has a different meaning.
2. Someone with the same name as another.
3. In biology, a taxonomic name that is the same as one already designating a different species or genus and cannot therefore be used.
A Homonymic Poem
A pretty deer is dear to me,
A hare with
downy hair,
A hart I love with all my heart,
But barely bear a bear.
‘Tis plain that no one takes a plane
To get a pair of pears,
Although a rake may take a rake
To tear away the tares.
Although a rake may take a rake
May write and still be wrong;
For write and rite are neither right
And don’t to right belong.
Beer often brings a bier to man,
Coughing a coffin brings,
And too much ale will make us ail,
As well as other things.
Quails do not quail before a storm,
A boat’s bow will bow before it;
We can not reign in the rain at all—
No earthly power reigns o’er it.
‘Tis meet that man should mete out meat
To feed one’s sunny son;
The fair should fare on love alone,
Else one can not be won.
I would a story here commence,
But you might think it stale;
So we’ll suppose that we have reached
The tail end of our tale.
—Author unknown
homopathy:
The sameness of feeling; sympathy.
homopetalous:
Having the petals alike or the same.
homophobia, homophobic, homophobiac:
1. A fear or hatred of boredom; that is, a fear of doing the same thing over and over again.
2. Some people are incorrectly using these terms to mean: showing an irrational hatred, disapproval, or fear of homosexuality, gay, and lesbian people, and their culture; however, it should be homosexualphobia.
homophone:
1. A word that is pronounced in the same way as one or more other words but is different in meaning and sometimes spelling, as are “hair” and “hare”.
2. A letter or diphthong that has the same sound as one or more other letters or diphthongs.
homophonic:
1. In linguistics, sharing the same sound.
2. In music, relating to parts of music in which they move together in simple harmonization.
homophony:
1. The quality of having the same pronunciation as one or more other words with a different origin and meaning.
2. Music of a largely chordal style in which there is no independence of voice parts, but rather a simple harmonization of a melody.
homophyllous:
Having leaves or leaflets all alike.
homophyly:
The condition of being of the same race.
homoplastic:
Used to describe a tissue graft that is obtained from a member of the same species as the recipient.
homoplasy, homoplasia:
Structural resemblance due to parallelism or convergent evolution rather than to common ancestry.
homopolar:
Having uniform polarity.
homopteran, homopterous:
An insect so called because it has wings of a uniform texture and which has the ability to suck plant juices through its mouthparts; such as, the cicada, scale insect, or aphid.
homoscedastic:
Characterized by equal statistical variances.
homosexual, homosexuality:
1. Someone who is sexually attracted to members of his or her own sex or sexually attracted to members of the same sex.
2. A reference to sexual attraction or activity among members of the same sex.
homosexualphobia, homosexualphobiac:
The correct term for showing an irrational hatred, disapproval, or fear of homosexuality, gay or lesbian people, and their culture.
homosporous, homospory:
Having only one kind of spore; isosporous.
homostyly:
A condition in which all the flowers of a species have styles of similar length.
homotaxis:
A similarity of composition, arrangement, or fossil content among rock strata of different ages or locations.
homothallism, homothallous, homothallic:
A mode of reproduction in fungi and algae in which each thallus produces both male and female sex cells and is self-fertilizing.
homotropic:
A reference to a flower fertilized by its own pollen.
homotherm, homothermal, homothermic, homothermism, homothermy:
1. The maintenance of a constant body temperature despite changes in the environmental temperature; also, homeotherm, homeothermal, et al.
2. Having a uniform temperature, which does not vary with that of its surroundings, as warm-blooded animals.
homotonous, homotonously, homotony:
Having the same tone or sound.
homoxenous:
Requiring only one host in the life cycle; said of certain parasites.
homozoic:
Pertaining to the same animal or the same species.
homozygote, homozygous, homozygosis, homozygosity:
Having two identical genes at the corresponding loci of homologous chromosomes.