Find the word definition

Crossword clues for onomatopoeia

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
onomatopoeia
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ The phonetic sequences involved in either onomatopoeia or sound symbolism are clearly not to be considered semantic constituents.
▪ This phenomenon is distinct from onomatopoeia - it is sometimes called sound symbolism: there is no question of auditory resemblance.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia \On`o*mat`o*p[oe]"ia\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; 'o`noma, 'ono`matos, a name + poiei^n to make.] (Philol.) The formation of words in imitation of sounds; a figure of speech in which the sound of a word is imitative of the sound of the thing which the word represents; as, the buzz of bees; the hiss of a goose; the crackle of fire.

Note: It has been maintained by some philologist that all primary words, especially names, were formed by imitation of natural sounds, but this is not believed by most.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
onomatopoeia

1570s, from Late Latin onomatopoeia, from Greek onomatopoiia "the making of a name or word" (in imitation of a sound associated with the thing being named), from onomatopoios, from onoma (genitive onomatos) "word, name" (see name (n.)) + a derivative of poiein "compose, make" (see poet). Related: Onomatopoeic; onomatopoeial.

Wiktionary
onomatopoeia

n. (context uncountable English) The property of a word of sounding like what it represents.

onomatopœia

n. (obsolete spelling of onomatopoeia English)

WordNet
onomatopoeia

n. using words that imitate the sound they denote

Wikipedia
Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia (, or chiefly NZ ; from the Greek ὀνοματοποιία; ὄνομα for "name" and ποιέω for "I make", adjectival form: "onomatopoeic" or "onomatopoetic") is a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the source of the sound that it describes. Onomatopoeia (as an uncountable noun) refers to the property of such words. Common occurrences of onomatopoeias include animal noises such as "oink", "miaow" (or "meow"), "roar" or "chirp". Onomatopoeias are not the same across all languages; they conform to some extent to the broader linguistic system they are part of; hence the sound of a clock may be tick tock in English, dī dā in Mandarin, or katchin katchin in Japanese, or "tik-tik" (टिक-टिक) in Hindi.

Although in the English language, the term onomatopoeia means "the imitation of a sound," the compound word onomatopoeia (ονοματοποιία) in the Greek language means "making or creating names." For words that imitate sounds, the term Ηχομιμητικό (echomimetico or echomimetic) is used. Ηχομιμητικό (echomimetico) derives from Ηχώ, meaning "echo or sound", and μιμητικό, meaning "mimetic or imitation".

Onomatopoeia (comics)

Onomatopoeia is a DC Comics supervillain and enemy of Green Arrow and Batman.

Onomatopoeia (album)

Onomatopoeia is the only album by Jonny 5 + Yak, with Jonny 5 later going on to form the band Flobots, released locally in 2001. The album featured David Gralow on guitar, Terrence Favors on cello, and Jaymz Haynes on bass. The album has since been re-printed and re-released by Jonny 5 due to fan interest, with all proceeds going towards the Flobots' own charity.

Onomatopoeia (disambiguation)

Onomatopoeia refers to a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.

Onomatopoeia may also refer to:

  • Onomatopoeia (comics), a villain in Green Arrow and Batman comic books
  • Onomatopoeia (album), an album by the band Flobots

Usage examples of "onomatopoeia".

The basic form of dolphin/dolphin communication in this view would be a sort of aural onomatopoeia, a drawing of audio frequency pictures- in this case, caricatures of a shark.

There are lots of bells and whistles, too - onomatopoeia, incremental repetition, stream of consciousness, interior dialogue, changes of verbal tense (it has become quite fashionable to tell stories, especially shorter ones, in the present tense), the sticky question of back story (how do you get it in and how much of it belongs), theme, pacing (we'll touch on these last two), and a dozen other topics, all of which are covered - sometimes at exhausting length - in writing courses and standard writing texts.