savior, saviour

The words savior, saviour sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do savior, saviour sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: savior, saviour are homophones of the English language.

savior
  1. :: noun

    A person who rescues another from harm, danger, or loss.

  2. :: noun

    Christianity Jesus.

saviour
  1. :: noun

    Chiefly British Variant of savior.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

Share savior, saviour

About Homophones

Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing").