resistance, resistants

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

The answer is simple: resistance, resistants are homophones of the English language.

resistance
  1. :: noun

    The act or an instance of resisting or the capacity to resist.

  2. :: noun

    A force that tends to oppose or retard motion.

  3. :: noun

    An underground organization engaged in a struggle for national liberation in a country under military or totalitarian occupation.

  4. :: noun

    Psychology A process in which the ego opposes the conscious recall of anxiety-producing experiences.

resistants
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of resistant.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 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").