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vowel

[ vou-uhl ]
/ ˈvaʊ əl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR vowel

noun

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.Compare consonant (def. 1b).
  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).
a letter representing or usually representing a vowel, as, in English, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

adjective

of or relating to a vowel.

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Origin of vowel

1275–1325; Middle English <Old French vowel<Latin vōcālisvocal

OTHER WORDS FROM vowel

vow·el·less, adjectivevow·el·like, adjectivevow·el·y, vow·el·ly, adverb

Words nearby vowel

vouchsafe, vouge, voussoir, Vouvray, vow, vowel, vowel gradation, vowel harmony, vowelize, vowel mutation, vowel point
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Content related to vowel

Are There Any English Words That Have No Vowels?It's a question that just about every English learner has asked: "Are there any English words that have no vowels?" The answer to this depends on what you mean by "vowel" and "word."
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Why Are A, E, I, O, U, And Y Called “Vowels”?In elementary school, we all learned the vowels of the English language: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. But what exactly makes a vowel a vowel?
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Words related to vowel

articulate, verbal, operatic, choral, singing, sonant, lyric, oral, sung, voiced, phonetic, pronounced, said, uttered, articulated, expressed, intonated, modulated, phonic, put into words

Example sentences from the Web for vowel

British Dictionary definitions for vowel

vowel
/ (ˈvaʊəl) /

noun

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
a letter or character representing a vowel

Derived forms of vowel

vowel-less, adjectivevowel-like, adjective

Word Origin for vowel

C14: from Old French vouel, from Latin vocālis littera a vowel, from vocālis sonorous, from vox a voice
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