# English words with three or more completely unrelated meanings **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825 "2011-12-11T15:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/21 "2011-12-11T22:38:24Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > How does that dictionary define “recursive”? You might need to be a physicist to define ‘right-as-in-chirality’ without resorting to recursion. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/22 "2011-12-11T22:40:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the OP, one that almost qualifies is “bit”. I don’t _think_ that “past tense of bite” and “a small piece” are related to each other, I think they almost certainly are, as you can see from the German cognates “er biss” (he bit) and “ein Bisschen” (a bit). If I am correct, a “bit” is originally a piece bitten off. One example of three-way unrelated meanings is: pen (1) A writing instrument (2) An area in which animals are held (3) (slang) A place where convicted criminals are held (short for “penitentiary”) There are other meanings too but they are related to (1) and (2). How about: scale (1) to climb (2) a device for weighing or measuring (3) a plate on the skin of a fish or snake A thought occurs to me. Is it possible that English spelling was standardised in such a way as to distinguish unrelated homophones by different spelling? For example, “hare” and “hair” are standardised on different spellings. If so, this would explain the surprising lack of examples that satisfy the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/23 "2011-12-12T02:35:04Z")
> [@](#): > > One example of three-way unrelated meanings is: > pen > (1) A writing instrument > (2) An area in which animals are held > (3) (slang) A place where convicted criminals are held (short for “penitentiary”) Although, the widespread adoption of meaning 3 was probably influenced by meaning 2. I suppose if one wanted to stretch the meaning of “word”, one could find acronyms or initialisms used for completely different things, in different contexts. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/24 "2011-12-12T02:40:48Z")
How about fast? Fast - adjective meaning “moving quickly” fast - verb meaning “to refrain from eating” fast - adjective meaning “steady” as in “hold fast your positions” I still think light works. Those meanings I gave probably are completely unrelated, right? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/25 "2011-12-12T03:46:30Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > A thought occurs to me. Is it possible that English spelling was standardised in such a way as to distinguish unrelated homophones by different spelling? For example, “hare” and “hair” are standardised on different spellings. If so, this would explain the surprising lack of examples that satisfy the OP. There might be some cases of this, but usually the different spellings come from different etymologies, and often, in fact, at one time the words were not homophones. The pronunciation changed, but the spelling didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/26 "2011-12-12T05:37:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There are certainly examples of words with _two_ completely unrelated meanings: “Bear” comes to mind. There’s no connection, not even etymological, between “ursine” and “carry”. > > For the OP, one that almost qualifies is “bit”. I don’t _think_ that “past tense of bite” and “a small piece” are related to each other, though either might be related to “the part of a harness that goes in a horse’s mouth”. The computer definition, though, “an amount of information sufficient to distinguish between two possibilities”, is more complicated, since it has a dual etymology: In part, it’s a portmanteau for “binary digit”, but in part, it’s also influenced by “a small piece”. Does that count as a completely unrelated meaning or not? Does a drill “bit” come from biting into material? ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/27 "2011-12-12T05:39:34Z")
Since the words are supposed to be unrelated, I don’t see any need for them to be pronounced the same. And in that case: tear - separate something into pieces tear - run fast tear - a drop from your eye ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/28 "2011-12-12T06:07:05Z")
Check: _A temporary loss of the scent in hunting To examine The bill in the restaurant A pattern_ Fuck: _To destroy To have sex To bother (as an) exclamation_ I still deserve a prize. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/29 "2011-12-12T06:08:19Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Since the words are supposed to be unrelated, I don’t see any need for them to be pronounced the same. And in that case: > > tear - separate something into pieces > tear - run fast > tear - a drop from your eye Aren’t the first two related? Because to ‘tear’ (run fast), you are ‘tearing up’ the ground. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/30 "2011-12-12T06:31:43Z")
To help with searching, the word for what the OP describes is a homonym. A true homonym is a word that is spelled and pronounced the same, but with a different meaning and etymology. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/31 "2011-12-12T06:47:29Z")
fair - pale skin fair - free from bias fair - a grand outdoor party with SNO CONES! fair - large/grand fair - likely fair - straight …[and many more](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fair). Prize yet? ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/32 "2011-12-12T06:49:40Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Aren’t the first two related? Because to ‘tear’ (run fast), you are ‘tearing up’ the ground. I’ve only seen that in Roadrunner cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/33 "2011-12-12T07:02:36Z")
ring - a sound ring - circular ring - I’m thinking of a group of people, but that may be related to “circle” Technically, there is no word with more than one meaning. There may be two words that are spelled the same and sound the same, but they are two distinct words. state - a political entity state - as a matter of fact state - as a part of time (_state_ is debatable) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/34 "2011-12-12T07:04:01Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > fair - pale skin > fair - free from bias > fair - a grand outdoor party with SNO CONES! > fair - large/grand > fair - likely > fair - straight > > …[and many more](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fair). > > Prize yet? It depends on what the OP means by “distinct” meaning, but etymologically, all those meanings of fair come from two sources. Otherwise, isn’t “set” or “make” the usual “word with most meanings”? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/35 "2011-12-12T07:27:34Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > How does that dictionary define “recursive”? Have you ever tried googling ‘recursion’ ? - it’s quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/36 "2011-12-12T13:27:24Z")
There’s one that almost everyone in this thread has used already… [Mean](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mean): an average/mid-level value to intend/signify common/petty/harsh There’s also a regional meaning of comfort/pity/moaning/lamenting/complaining Each of those has an independent etymology, so they’re unrelated words. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/37 "2011-12-12T13:37:14Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You might need to be a physicist to define ‘right-as-in-chirality’ without resorting to recursion. I’m pretty sure there are anatomical references we could use, given our basic asymmetry - such as “the side the average human liver is on when you’re cutting from the front and the head is on top” or somesuch although that does leave you with “front” and “top” to define, although those could be defined behaviourally ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/38 "2011-12-12T15:15:52Z")
[Rack has good number of distinct etymologies](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rack): 1. Framework of bars - from Middle Dutch _rac, rec, recke_ 2. Ruin or destruction; wrack - from Middle English _wrak_ 3. A horse’s gait - origin unknown, possible from _rock_, or from French _racquassure_ 4. A group of drifting clouds, from Middle English _rak, reck(e)_; also possibly from Old English _racu_, “cloud” 5. To draw off from the lees (like in beermaking or winemaking), from Old French, compare to _raqué_ 6. The neck portion of mutton, goat, or veal - origin unknown ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/39 "2011-12-12T16:29:38Z")
\*Foil \*has three distinct definitions. 1. to prevent the success of; frustrate; balk: 1250–1300; Middle English foilen, \< Anglo-French foller, Old French fuler to trample, full (cloth). 2. metal in the form of very thin sheets: aluminum foil. 1350–1400; Middle English foille, foil \< Old French fuelle, fueille, foille (\< Latin folia leaves), fuel, fueil, foil (\< Latin folium leaf, blade) 3. a flexible four-sided rapier having a blunt point. 1585–95; origin uncertain Some other definitions appear to be connected to meaning # 2 - a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast: The straight man was an able foil to the comic. - Architecture . an arc or a rounded space between cusps, as in the tracery of a window or other ornamentation. - An Aerofoil ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825/40 "2011-12-12T16:43:43Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Punch: > > 1: (v) to strike with the fist > > 2: (n) a type of beverage > > 3: (n) a puppet character, ie Punch and Judy I daresay that 3 derives from 1. No cite, as I pulled the reasoning straight from my sphincter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-with-three-or-more-completely-unrelated-meanings/605825.md?page=3)