nicks, nix

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

The answer is simple: nicks, nix are homophones of the English language.

nicks
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of nick.

  2. :: verb

    Third-person singular simple present indicative form of nick.

nix
  1. :: noun

    Mythology A water sprite of German mythology, usually in human form or half-human and half-fish.

  2. :: noun

    Nothing.

  3. :: adverb

    Not so; no.

  4. :: verb-transitive

    To forbid, refuse, or veto: Congress nixed the tax hike.

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, 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").