aurally, orally

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

The answer is simple: aurally, orally are homophones of the English language.

aurally
  1. ::

    By means of the ear or of audition; in an auditory manner.

  2. :: adverb

    Pertaining to <xref>sound</xref> or the <xref>ear</xref>.

  3. :: adverb

    with regard to sound or the ear

orally
  1. ::

    In an oral manner; by word of mouth; in words, without writing; vocally; verbally: as, traditions derived <em>orally</em> from ancestors.

  2. ::

    By means of the mouth; through, in, or into the mouth.

  3. ::

    Toward or in the mouth or oral region.

  4. :: adverb

    In an oral manner.

Definitions from The Century Dictionary., from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License., from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved., from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 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").