Homograph is a term in the field of computers and computing used to describe the lexical or syntactic process of recognizing multiple words which share identical spellings, yet are distinct in meaning. Homographs are also known as homonyms, polysemes, or orthographic homonyms. The term homograph is derived from the Greek homos which means “same”, and grapho which means “writing” or “drawing”.
Homographs generally require context to distinguish between them. For example, the noun “bank” has several different meanings, such as “the edge of a river” or “a business who manages or holds money”. Computers must be programmed to be able to understand the context in which the homograph is used in order to retrieve an accurate definition.
In computing, homographs can be used to track the origin of a text document or record the web browser from which a user is accessing information. Different browsers have a signature homograph which identifies the type they are using; this is known as a “user-agent homograph”. The user-agent homograph can be used to inform the server of the browser, and consequently the operating system, used.
Also, in computing, the process of “lexical disambiguation” is used to differentiate between homographs. This can include spell-checkers, grammar-checkers, and language processing programs. Lexical disambiguation is used to decide which sense is intended in any given context, by searching for multiple senses and then making an educated guess.
Homographs are a common source of confusion and can lead to misinterpretation. For this reason, programming and linguistics have developed advanced methods for dealing with homographs in order to help ensure accuracy and correctness of data.
