licker, liquor

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

The answer is simple: licker, liquor are homophones of the English language.

licker
  1. :: noun

    Someone or something that licks.

liquor
  1. :: noun

    An alcoholic beverage made by distillation rather than by fermentation.

  2. :: noun

    A rich broth resulting from the prolonged cooking of meat or vegetables, especially greens. Also called pot liquor.

  3. :: noun

    An aqueous solution of a nonvolatile substance.

  4. :: noun

    A solution, emulsion, or suspension for industrial use.

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

Share licker, liquor

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").