come, cum

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

The answer is simple: come, cum are homophones of the English language.

come
  1. :: idiom

    come to blows To begin a physical fight.

  2. :: verb-intransitive

    To advance toward the speaker or toward a specified place; approach: Come to me.

  3. :: verb-intransitive

    To advance in a specified manner: The children came reluctantly when I insisted.

  4. :: verb-intransitive

    To make progress; advance: a former drug addict who has come a long way.

cum
  1. :: preposition

    Together with; plus. Often used in combination: our attic-cum-studio.

  2. :: noun

    Vulgar Slang Variant of come.

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").