quad, quod

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

The answer is simple: quad, quod are homophones of the English language.

quad
  1. :: noun

    Printing See quadrat.

  2. :: adjective

    Informal Quadruple.

  3. :: noun

    A quadrangle: cadets forming up in the barracks quad.

  4. :: noun

    A quadruplet.

quod
  1. :: noun

    A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; a prison.

  2. :: noun

    Confinement in a prison.

  3. :: verb

    Quoth.

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