There are numerous pairs of words in English that have precisely identical pronunciations but different meanings. These pairs are called homonyms. These pairs of words can confuse the listeners because they might think of another word of the set once the speaker means yet another. That is the difficulty between the heel and heal that have the same pronunciation but different meanings. We are going to discuss it with examples as today’s topic is heel vs heal.
Where Does Each Word Derive From?
“Heel” originates from the Old English’ hela‘. ‘Hela‘ derives from the Proto Germanic’ hanhilon,’ which arises from the word ‘kenk‘ meaning ‘heel, bend of the knee.’ The word is being used as a verb to express ‘attaching a heel to something‘ since about 1600 and as a ‘call for a dog to stay by a person’s heels‘ since 1810.
“Heal” originates from Old English’ hælan‘ meaning ‘cure; save; make whole, sound and well. ‘Hælan’ arises from the Proto Germanic’ hailjan,’ which accurately translates into ‘make whole‘ and comes from the word ‘kailo‘ meaning ‘whole.’
Heel
“Heel” is a Noun. The rear portion of the foot is also known as the heel. Achilles‘ heel is the most famous term to keep the significance of this word in our mind. Its word can be used to indicate the weakness or shortcoming of a warrior to damage him, so he does not heal easily or quickly.
“Heel” can also be part of a shoe on its rear and one which gets the shoe stand over the ground surface. The word has become so common that the back portion of our socks and stockings are also known as heels. Let’s make it more transparent with some examples:
- “My shoes were stiff and uncomfortable, so I have awful pain in my heel right now.” -Here, “heel” is the body part located in the back of the foot.
- “She loves wearing high heels.” -Here, “heel” refers to the part of a shoe located under the heel.
- “The heel of a vessel.” –Here, “heel” refers to the lowest part of the object.
Heal
“Heal” is a verb, speaking into the activity of making something healthful again, if it is a wound, a broken bone. It defines that the procedure of fixing something broken, especially in regards to a living organism. It is also used as a spiritual term. The term may also be utilized figuratively to forgetting, forgiving, or passing a moment or period of sufferance or pain. Here are some examples:
- “This bandage will heal your cut.”– Here, the word “heal” refers to the healing of a living organism physically.
- “May the almighty heal your soul”– Here, the word “heal” refers to the recovering of damage, but not physically rather emotionally.
- “I will let my headache heal on its own as I don’t want to take any medicines.” -Here, the word “heal” refers to the procedure of making something painless again.
A Way to Memorize the Difference
Let’s go over a method to remember heal vs. heel. Being homophones, heel, and heal is simple to blend. They both can be used as verbs, which doesn’t help with the situation either.
“Heel” is only used as a noun, though. It holds a double E, as the word meet, memorizing that heels are located on feet is a simple suggestion.
Also, you can memorize that “heal” relates to health as it starts with the identical four letters.
Conclusion
Heel vs Heal, a piece of cake to be confused about between these two words. The easiest way to memorize these words’ meanings is to keep in mind that “heal” is a verb, referring to something getting healthy again. Simultaneously, “heel” is a shoe component or a body part located at the back of the foot or can be used to refer to the lowest back part of any object.