consonant
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
consonant
- /ˈkɒn.sə.nənt/ UK
- /ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/ US
- /ˈkɑns.nənt/ US
Rhymes with -ɒnsənənt, -ɑnsənənt, -ɑnsnənt
Where it comes from
From Middle English consonant or consonaunt, from Old French consonant, from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding with”), from the prefix con- (“with”) + the present participle sonāns (“sounding”), from sonāre (“to sound”). The Latin is a calque of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon).
noun consonants
- A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant sound generally being a vowel.
- A letter representing the sound of a consonant. Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
adjective more consonant · most consonant
- Consistent, harmonious, compatible, or in agreement. Each one pretends that his opinion […] is consonant to the words there used.
- Having the same sound. 1645-1650, James Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae consonant words and syllables
- Harmonizing together; accordant. consonant tones; consonant chords
- Of or relating to consonants; made up of, or containing many, consonants. No Russian whose dissonant consonant name / Almost shatters to fragments the trumpet of fame.
