p, pea, pee

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

The answer is simple: p, pea, pee are homophones of the English language.

p
  1. :: abbreviation

    piano (musical direction)

  2. :: abbreviation

    proton

  3. :: noun

    The 16th letter of the modern English alphabet.

  4. :: noun

    Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter <em>p.</em>

pea
  1. :: noun

    In the West Indies, <em>Dolichos sphærospermus.</em> Both of the plants bear white beans having a black spot around the hilum.

  2. :: noun

    A member of the pea family.

  3. :: noun

  4. :: noun

    A widely cultivated climbing annual vine <em>(Pisum sativum)</em> native to Eurasia, having compound leaves with terminal leaflets modified into tendrils and globose, edible seeds enclosed in a green, elongated pod.

pee
  1. :: intransitive verb

    To urinate.

  2. :: intransitive verb

    To urinate in (one's clothes or one's bed).

  3. :: noun

    Urine.

  4. :: noun

    An act of urination.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition., from The Century Dictionary. and Wordnik.

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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").