Schwa Definition

shwä
noun
The neutral mid-central vowel sound of most unstressed syllables in English: the sound represented by a in ago, e in agent, i in sanity, etc.
Webster's New World
The symbol (ə) for this sound, as in the International Phonetic Alphabet and this dictionary.
Webster's New World
The character ə, an upside-down, backwards, lower-case E.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
  • shwa

Other Word Forms of Schwa

Noun

Singular:
schwa
Plural:
schwas

Origin of Schwa

  • German from Hebrew šəwā’ probably from Syriac (nuqzē) šwayyā even (points) pl. passive participle of šwā to be even šwy in Semitic roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • German Schwa, from Hebrew שְׁוָא (š'vā), meaning "nought".

    From Wiktionary

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schwa