Is there a difference between "homogenous" and "homogeneous?" If not, why the two spellings?

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
Is there a difference between "homogenous" and "homogeneous?" If not, why the two spellings?

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Troublesome Words says

Homogenous normally should be confined to biological contexts, where it describes organisms having common ancestry. Homegeneous describes things that are consistent and uniform.

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So the two are heterogenous?

I guess so, Asa.

Dictionary.com, in one definition (not all), does mention that "homogenous" is applied to plants and animals, while the definition was more general for "homogeneous", as Bob indicates.

However, for "heterogenous" it says that it is a variant of "heterogeneous," and the latter is described as "consisting of different elements or parts."

So, we see a slight distinction between "homogenous" and "homogeneous"; is that not the case with "heterogenous" and "heterogeneous."

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Sat Dec 13th, 2003 at 19:21.]