narc, nark

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

The answer is simple: narc, nark are homophones of the English language.

narc
  1. :: noun

    Slang A law enforcement officer who deals with narcotics violations.

nark
  1. :: noun

    Slang Variant of narc.

  2. :: noun

    An informer, especially a police informer.

  3. :: verb-intransitive

    To be an informer.

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").