nonexistence, nonexistents

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

The answer is simple: nonexistence, nonexistents are homophones of the English language.

nonexistence
  1. :: noun

    The condition of not existing.

  2. :: noun

    Something that does not exist.

nonexistents
  1. ::

  2. ::

  3. ::

  4. ::

Definitions 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").