forego, forgo

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

The answer is simple: forego, forgo are homophones of the English language.

forego
  1. :: verb-transitive

    To precede, as in time or place.

  2. :: verb

    Variant of forgo.

forgo
  1. :: verb-transitive

    To abstain from; relinquish: unwilling to forgo dessert.

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").