blend, blende

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

The answer is simple: blend, blende are homophones of the English language.

blend
  1. :: noun

    The act of blending.

  2. :: verb-transitive

    To combine or mix so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another: "He has no difficulty blending his two writing careers: novels and films” ( Charles E. Claffey).

  3. :: verb-transitive

    To combine (varieties or grades) to obtain a mixture of a particular character, quality, or consistency: blend tobaccos.

  4. :: verb-intransitive

    To form a uniform mixture: "The smoke blended easily into the odor of the other fumes” ( Norman Mailer).

blende
  1. :: noun

    Any of various shiny minerals composed chiefly of metallic sulfides.

  2. :: noun

    See sphalerite.

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