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sonorant

[suh-nawr-uh nt, -nohr-, soh-]Phonetics
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noun

a voiced sound that is less sonorous than a vowel but more sonorous than a stop or fricative and that may occur as either a sonant or a consonant, as (l, r, m, n, y, w).
a speech sound characterized by relatively free air passage through some channel, as a vowel, semivowel, liquid, or nasal.Compare obstruent.

adjective

of, relating to, or having the properties of a sonorant.

RELATED WORDS

thrilling, ringing, profound, rich, mellow, sonorous, resonant, earsplitting, forceful, thunderous, roaring, loud, emphatic, electrifying, thundering, booming, resounding, strident, throbbing, full

Nearby words

  1. sonography,
  2. sonoluminescence,
  3. sonoma,
  4. sonometer,
  5. sonora,
  6. sonority,
  7. sonorous,
  8. sonorous rale,
  9. sonorously,
  10. sons and lovers

Origin of sonorant

< Latin sonōr- (stem of sonor) sound, noise + -ant; see sonorous
Related formsnon·so·no·rant, adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for sonorant

sonorant

noun phonetics

one of the frictionless continuants or nasals (l, r, m, n, ŋ) having consonantal or vocalic functions depending on its situation within the syllable
either of the two consonants represented in English orthography by w or y and regarded as either consonantal or vocalic articulations of the vowels iː and uː

Word Origin for sonorant

from Latin sonor a noise + -ant
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