alliteration
[uh-lit-uh-rey-shuh n]
noun
the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group (consonantal alliteration), as in from stem to stern, or with a vowel sound that may differ from syllable to syllable (vocalic alliteration), as in each to all.Compare consonance(def 4a).
the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration's artful aid.
Origin of alliteration
1650–60; < Medieval Latin alliterātiōn-, stem of alliterātiō, equivalent to al- al- + literātiō, modeled after obliterātiō obliteration but intended to convey a derivative of littera letter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for alliteration
recurrence, repeat, reiteration, litany, rhythm, poem, poetry, verse, cadence, tune, echo, relation, restatement, redundancy, renewal, paraphrase, return, reappearance, practice, rehearsalExamples from the Web for alliteration
Contemporary Examples of alliteration
Historical Examples of alliteration
Nikita, surnamed Necator, with a sinister aptness of alliteration!
Under Western EyesJoseph Conrad
The "Cape to Cairo" railroad is another case of alliteration.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
Alliteration and rhyme together will, I am afraid, be too much for me.
LavengroGeorge Borrow
The alliteration is without complexity,--a dreary procession of sibilants.
MiltonSir Walter Alexander Raleigh
Consonance is very similar to this latter form of alliteration.
The Principles of English VersificationPaull Franklin Baum
alliteration
noun
Word Origin for alliteration
C17: from Medieval Latin alliterātiō (from Latin al- (see ad-) + litera letter), on the model of obliterātiō obliteration
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
alliteration
[(uh-lit-uh-ray-shuhn)]
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.