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

“Non-rhotic speakers essentially say the ‘r’ sound only when it occurs before a vowel sound, but not when it occurs after a vowel,” Ms. Fridland says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Even the word, beginning and ending with similar vowel qualities, evinces monotony.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2024

Llama 2 70b, which answered correctly 10% of the time, mistook the letter K for a vowel and so answered incorrectly.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024

In the Gluck rehearsal, Palumbo cautioned the group not to sit on one word’s final vowel, so that the next consonant could be more explosive.

From New York Times ● May 21, 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

Leto’s grumbling Brit-inflected baritone is an unrecognizable concoction of trilled r’s and plummy vowels — and the best performance he’s done in years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

“The way he finishes notes, the way he slurs into notes, the way vowels sound, the choices of sounds he uses in the lyrics he writes—it’s just clever,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025

Investment firm Abrdn will add the vowels back into its name after dropping them in a rebrand that was widely mocked.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025

“Yes, my daughter created it,” I hear her boast, trilling her “r” ’s, clipping her vowels even more precisely than usual, as if her accent were partly responsible for the painting.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Related Words

• articulate
• choral
• operatic
• verbal