consonant Hear it!

consonant definition

con·so·nant (-nənt)

adjective

  1. in harmony or agreement; in accord
  2. harmonious in tone
  3. Prosody having consonance
  4. consonantal

Etymology: OFr < L consonans: see consonance

noun

  1. any speech sound in the production of which the speaker completely stops and then releases the air stream, as in (p, t, k, b, d, g), stops it at one point while it escapes at another, as in (m, n, ŋ, l, r), forces it through a loosely closed or very narrow passage, as in (f, v, s, z, s̸h, z̸h, t̸h, t̸h, H, kh, h, w, y), or uses a combination of these means, as in (c̸h, j)
  2. a letter or symbol representing such a sound
  3. Linguis. any phoneme, esp. one produced as described above, that does not form the peak of a syllable

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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