alliteration
[ uh-lit-uh-rey-shuh n ]
/ əˌlɪt əˈreɪ ʃən /
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.
Content related to alliteration
Words related to alliteration
recurrence, repeat, reiteration, litany, rhythm, poem, poetry, verse, cadence, tune, echo, relation, restatement, redundancy, renewal, paraphrase, return, reappearance, practice, rehearsal
Words nearby alliteration
allingham, allis's sign, allision, allison, alliterate, alliteration, alliterative, allium, allmouth, allness, allo-
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
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Examples from the Web for alliteration
British Dictionary definitions for alliteration
alliteration
/ (əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃən) /
noun
the use of the same consonant (consonantal alliteration) or of a vowel, not necessarily the same vowel (vocalic alliteration), at the beginning of each word or each stressed syllable in a line of verse, as in around the rock the ragged rascal ran
Derived forms of alliteration
alliterative, adjectiveWord Origin for alliteration
C17: from Medieval Latin alliterātiō (from Latin al- (see ad-) + litera letter), on the model of obliterātiō obliteration
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Culture definitions for alliteration
alliteration
[ (uh-lit-uh-ray-shuhn) ]
The repetition of the beginning sounds of words, as in “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” “long-lived,” “short shrift,” and “the fickle finger of fate.”
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.