licht, licked

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

The answer is simple: licht, licked are homophones of the English language.

licht
  1. ::

    An obsolete or dialectal form of light.

  2. :: noun

    An obsolete or dialectal (Scotch) form of light.

licked
  1. :: verb-transitive

    To pass the tongue over or along: lick a stamp.

  2. :: verb-transitive

    To lap up.

  3. :: verb-transitive

    To lap or flicker at like a tongue: The waves licked the sides of the boat.

  4. :: verb-transitive

    Slang To punish with a beating; thrash.

Definitions from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, 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").