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assonance

[ as-uh-nuhns ]
/ ˈæs ə nəns /
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See synonyms for: assonance / assonant 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.

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Origin of assonance

1720–30; <French, equivalent to asson(ant) sounding in answer (see as-, sonant) + -ance-ance

OTHER WORDS FROM assonance

as·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

Words nearby assonance

associative array, associative cortex, associative storage, assoil, assoluta, assonance, as soon, as soon as, assort, assortative mating, assorted
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to assonance

chant, lyric, music, refrain, theme, air, aria, chime, concord, descant, diapason, euphony, lay, measure, melodiousness, musicality, resonance, run, song, strain

How to use assonance in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for assonance

assonance
/ (ˈæsənəns) /
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 forms of assonance

assonant, adjective, nounassonantal (ˌæsəˈnæntəl), adjective

Word Origin for assonance

C18: from French, from Latin assonāre to sound, from sonāre to sound
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
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