Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
assonance [as-uh-nuh ns] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for assonance on Thesaurus.com noun
- resemblance of sounds.
- Also called vowel rhyme. Prosody. rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence.
- partial agreement or correspondence.
Origin of assonance 1720–30; French, equivalent to asson(ant) sounding in answer (see as-, sonant) + -ance -ance Related formsas·so·nant, adjective, nounas·so·nan·tal [as-uh-nan-tl] /ˌæs əˈnæn tl/, as·so·nan·tic, adjectivenon·as·so·nance, nounnon·as·so·nant, adjective, noun Related Words for assonance chant, inflection, refrain, theme, music, lyric, unison, consonance, run, strain, aria, song, concord, chime, air, euphony, lay, measure, carillon, resonance Examples from the Web for assonance Historical Examples of assonance
Not being able to preserve the assonance, I have dropped the greater part of his title.
W. R. S. Ralston
It is an example of assonance which is lost in the translation.
The Gegence; A Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua
Daniel G. Brinton
It is, we might say, a rhythm of thought, an assonance of feeling.
Music in the History of the Western Church
Edward Dickinson
Yet there is an amount of assonance, which at times approaches to rhyme.
George Adam Smith
In our ode there is not much either of assonance or alliteration.
The Book of Isaiah, Volume I (of 2)
George Adam Smith
British Dictionary definitions for assonance assonance noun
- the use of the same vowel sound with different consonants or the same consonant with different vowels in successive words or stressed syllables, as in a line of verse. Examples are time and light or mystery and mastery
- partial correspondence; rough similarity
Derived Formsassonant, adjective, nounassonantal (ˌæsəˈnæntəl), adjectiveWord Origin for assonance C18: from French, from Latin assonāre to sound, from sonāre to sound Word Origin and History for assonance n.
1727, “resemblance of sounds between words,” from French assonance, from assonant, from Latin assonantem (nominative assonans), present participle of assonare “to resound, respond to,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + sonare “to sound” (see sonata). Properly, in prosody, “rhyming of accented vowels, but not consonants” (1823).