The word "ground", by itself, has no meaning in a technical discussion.
Here are some valid technical terms involving the word ground, and they all have different meanings.
- grounded conductor,
- system grounding conductor,
- equipment grounding conductor,
- grounding electrode,
- grounding electrode conductor,
The neutral conductor of a system, when one exists, is the one that is intended to have a voltage such that the voltage difference between itself and each of the other conductors of the system are equal in amount, and equally displaced in phase (out of phase by the same number of degrees).
Neutral conductors only exist in polyphase (three phase) or single-phase, three-wire circuits, and are normally required to be grounded, but not all grounded conductors are "neutrals".
Ed
