definitions

assonance

[ as-uh-nuh ns ]
/ ˈæs ə nəns /
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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.

RELATED WORDS

melodic, tuneful, musical, accordant, agreeable, clear, dulcet, euphonious, mellifluous, mellow, pleasing, resonant, soft, sweet, symphonic, euphonic, harmonic, symphonious, canorous, concordant

Nearby words

associative learning, associative neuron, associative storage, assoil, assoluta, assonance, assort, assortative mating, assorted, assortment, assr

Origin of assonance

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

Related forms

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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for assonant

British Dictionary definitions for assonant

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

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