vowel

American  

[vou-uhl] / ˈvaʊ əl /

noun

vowels plural

1. Phonetics.

   1. (in English articulation) a speech sound produced without occluding, diverting, or obstructing the flow of air from the lungs (opposed to consonant).

   2. (in a syllable) the sound of greatest sonority, as i in grill.

   3. (in linguistic function) a concept empirically determined as a phonological element in structural contrast with consonant, as the (ē) of be (bē), we (wē), and yeast (yēst).

2. a letter representing or usually representing a vowel, as, in English, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a vowel.

vowel British  

/ ˈvaʊəl /

noun

1. phonetics a voiced speech sound whose articulation is characterized by the absence of friction-causing obstruction in the vocal tract, allowing the breath stream free passage. The timbre of a vowel is chiefly determined by the position of the tongue and the lips

2. a letter or character representing a vowel

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vowel-less
  adjective
• vowel-like
  adjective
• vowelless
  adjective
• vowellike
  adjective
• vowelly
  adverb
• vowely
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vowels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vowel

1275–1325; Middle English < Old French vowel < Latin vōcālis vocal

Explanation

Open your mouth and say “aaaaa.” There! You’ve just said a vowel. A vowel is a letter that represents an open sound. There are six vowels in the English language: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y. Y is sometimes a vowel, as in the word story although it also sometimes acts as a consonant, as in the word yes. The vocal sounds represented by vowels are open and without friction. The word vowel comes from the Old French voieul, which is based on the Latin phrase littera vocalis, or "vocal letter," from the root word vox, or "voice."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vowel vowels

But Team Italy didn’t want to add players, forward Nick Saracino said, “just because you have a vowel in your name.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

I mean, this is us lining up sine waves, “Minority Report”-style, and seeing where a vowel or a syllable is sort of falling out of place and giving the actor’s accent away.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025

Check the following rule: If there is a vowel on one side of the card, there is an even number on the other side.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024

Abrdn appointed branding agency Wolff Olins to advise on the change but has been on the receiving end of jibes ever since, with some suggesting the company suffers from "irritable vowel syndrome".

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2024

He initially devised 200 syllabic signs and gradually reduced them to 85, most of them for combinations of one consonant and one vowel.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

To go American, Mielewska said it's all about getting the Rs and the vowels right.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

With her original, breathy way of speaking, stressing odd syllables and stretching random vowels to the breaking point, her mad fashions and family of wigs, Moira is a sketch character with depth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

Its opening poem, “Digging,” feels earthbound with its low-pitched vowels: “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

They were prone to making simple mistakes, including basic addition errors and mistaking consonants for vowels, which led them to provide incorrect answers.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024

“Ah ken what t’ dooo,” drawled Jamie, the Pobble Who Has No Toes, dragging out his vowels to make them exaggeratedly Scots.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• articulate
• choral
• operatic
• verbal