sonant

[soh-nuh nt]

See more synonyms for sonant on Thesaurus.com

adjective

sounding; having sound.
Phonetics. voiced (opposed to surd).

noun Phonetics.

a speech sound that by itself makes a syllable or subordinates to itself the other sounds in the syllable; a syllabic sound (opposed to consonant).
a voiced sound (opposed to surd).
(in Indo-European) a sonorant.

Origin of sonant

1840–50; < Latin sonānt- (stem of sonāns), present participle of sonāre to sound¹. See son-, -ant

Related formsso·nan·tal

[soh-nan-tl] /soʊˈnæn tl/, so·nan·tic

[soh-nan-tik] /soʊˈnæn tɪk/, adjectivein·ter·so·nant, adjectivenon·so·nant, adjective, nounun·so·nant, adjectiveun·so·nan·tal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sonant

oral, lyric, voiced, singing, choral, vowel, sung, articulate, phonetic, pronounced, said, spoken, uttered, verbal, articulated, expressed, operatic, phonic, vocalic

Examples from the Web for sonant

Historical Examples of sonant

For 'voiced,' 'sonant,' 'soft,' or 'media' are sometimes used.
New Latin Grammar
Charles E. Bennett
Far to the right lay what had once been called (horresco referens) the duckpond, where—Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves.
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4, July, 1851
Various
On the other hand, z as the representative of sonant th, is legitimate in the broken English of a Frenchman.
Pennsylvania Dutch
S. S. Haldeman
The rule of surd to surd and sonant to sonant is neglected in most of the factitious specimens of broken English.
Pennsylvania Dutch
S. S. Haldeman
Far to the right lay what had once been called (hor resco referens) the duck-pond, where—Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, July, 1851
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sonant

sonant

adjective

phonetics denoting a voiced sound capable of forming a syllable or syllable nucleus
inherently possessing, exhibiting, or producing a sound

noun

phonetics a voiced sound belonging to the class of frictionless continuants or nasals (l, r, m, n, ŋ) considered from the point of view of being a vowel and, in this capacity, able to form a syllable or syllable nucleus

Derived Formssonance, nounsonantal (səʊˈnæntəl) or sonantic, adjective

Word Origin for sonant

C19: from Latin sonāns sounding, from sonāre to make a noise, resound

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

Word Origin and History for sonant

adj.

1846, from Latin sonantem (nominative sonans), present participle of sonare "make a noise," (see sonata). As a noun from 1849.