assonance means the repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds (though with different consonants), usually in literature or poetry. It carries an Arena rating of 1652, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, assonance ranks #527 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #2,614 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,315 of 17,137 for Most Exacting Words, #5,832 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words.
assonance is pronounced /ˈæsənəns/.
Why “assonance” is a great word
The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, within proximate words. From French assonance, from Latin assonāre ("to sound in answer, to respond"), from ad- ("to") + sonāre ("to sound"), first attested in English around 1727. Unlike "alliteration," which clangs at the gate with matching initial consonants, or "consonance," which anchors word-endings with shared stops and fricatives, assonance is the stealthier music, the vowel-thread woven through the fabric of a sentence. It is the long *o* mourned through "lonely road," the *i* that climbs and slides in "high white ride," or the hollow *u* that opens and closes like a breath in "blue moon"—the ear catching what the eye misses, a secret harmony beneath the surface of sense.
Etymology
From French assonance, from Latin assonāre; by surface analysis, a- + son- + -ance.
noun
- The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds (though with different consonants), usually in literature or poetry.e.g.“"You should try to speak without assonances" said Merlyn. "For instance, 'The beer is never clear round here, dear' is unfortunate, even as an assonance.'"”
Words closest in meaning
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