paronym

Coined around 1846 from Ancient Greek παρώνυμος (parṓnumos, “derivative”), equivalent to para- +‎ -onym.

• (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹənɪm/, [ˈpʰæɹənɪm]
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹənɪm/, [ˈpʰɛɹənɪm]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧o‧nym
• Homophone: paranym

paronym (plural paronyms)

1. (semantics) A word derived from the same root or stem as another word; classes include cognates and naturalizations of foreign words.

   Synonym: isonym

   Hypernym: derivative

   Hyponym: cognate

3. (rare) A near-homophone, a word that sounds like another word (some example pairs are cognate).