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Prefix · similarity · same

homo-

Means "same" or "equal": homogeneous, homonym, homophone, homologous, homozygous.

Scientific

Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated

What does the prefix homo- mean?

Homo- comes from the Greek homos, which means "same" or "equal". It appears in scientific and linguistic vocabulary. Do not confuse it with the Latin homo meaning "man" (as in Homo sapiens): they are different roots that are spelled the same.

Homo- in science and in language

Homo- shows up mostly in two worlds. In biology and chemistry, it talks about things that are uniform or that share an origin. In linguistics, it names words that share something: the same sound or the same spelling, even though they mean different things. If you see homo- in a word, look for what is being repeated.

How it is used

Combines with Greek roots in scientific and linguistic contexts:

  • homo- + language
    nym → homonymphone → homophonegraph → homographphony → homophony
  • homo- + science
    geneous → homogeneouslogous → homologouszygous → homozygousgenize → homogenize

Pronunciation: /ˈhoʊ.moʊ/.

How it is pronounced

homo-/ˈhoʊ.moʊ/

Tap the button to hear how the prefix sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.

Examples

  • geneoushomogeneousA homogeneous mixture has a uniform composition throughout, like saltwater.
  • nymhomonymWords like "bank" (finance) and "bank" (river) are homonyms.
  • phonehomophoneThe words "know" and "no" are homophones that sound identical.
  • logoushomologousHuman arms and whale fins are homologous structures with a shared ancestor.
  • genizehomogenizeFactories homogenize milk to distribute the fat evenly throughout.
  • zygoushomozygousA homozygous organism carries two identical alleles for the same trait.
  • graphhomographLead (the metal) and lead (to guide) are homographs spelled identically.

Common mistakes

confusing "homonym", "homophone", and "homograph"
"homophone" = same sound only (know/no); "homograph" = same spelling only (lead/lead); "homonym" = umbrella term covering both cases

All three share homo- (same) but differ in what is the same: homophone (homos + phone = same sound: know/no, there/their/they're); homograph (homos + graphe = same writing, different pronunciation: lead/lead, wind/wind); homonym (homos + onoma = same name) is the broader term covering words that share sound, spelling, or both. "Homophone" is the most commonly tested in English language learning.

A trick to remember it

Think of homogenized milk, the same all the way through: homo- = same, equal. homogeneous, homophone.

Practise what you learned

Exercise 1 · Form the word

A ___ mixture has the same composition and properties throughout, like saltwater or air.

Hint: homo- + geneous (of the same kind) = ?

Exercise 2 · Pick the right one

"Know" and "no" are homophones because...

Frequently asked questions

What does the prefix homo- mean in English?

The prefix homo- means "same" or "equal": homogeneous, homonym, homophone, homologous, homozygous.

How do you pronounce homo-?

The prefix homo- is pronounced /ˈhoʊ.moʊ/. For example, "homogeneous".

Can you give an example of a word with homo-?

"geneous" becomes "homogeneous". It is a typical example of the homo- prefix.

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