gnus, news

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

The answer is simple: gnus, news are homophones of the English language.

gnus
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of gnu.

news
  1. :: noun-plural

    Information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television.

  2. :: noun-plural

    A presentation of such information, as in a newspaper or on a newscast.

  3. :: noun-plural

    New information of any kind: The requirement was news to him.

  4. :: noun-plural

    Newsworthy material: "a public figure on a scale unimaginable in America; whatever he did was news” ( James Atlas).

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, 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").