assonant
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as·so·nance
(ăs′ə-nəns)n.
1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats).
2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills.
3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement.
[French, from Latin assonāre, to respond to : ad-, ad- + sonāre, to sound; see swen- in Indo-European roots.]
as′so·nant adj. & n.
as′so·nan′tal (-năn′tl) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Adj. | 1. | assonant - having the same sound (especially the same vowel sound) occurring in successive stressed syllables; "note the assonant words and syllables in `tilting at windmills'" same - closely similar or comparable in kind or quality or quantity or degree; "curtains the same color as the walls"; "two girls of the same age"; "mother and son have the same blue eyes"; "animals of the same species"; "the same rules as before"; "two boxes having the same dimensions"; "the same day next year" |
| 2. | assonant - having the same vowel sound occurring with different consonants in successive words or stressed syllables |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.