consonant
/ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.09 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant sound generally being a vowel.
noun
A letter representing the sound of a consonant.
adj
adj
adj
Of or relating to consonants; made up of, or containing many, consonants.
Example Sentences
- "Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well."
- "“Tell me, has right anything to do with the law?” I asked. “You have used the wrong initial consonant,” he smiled in answer. “Might?” I queried; and he nodded his head."
- "Each one pretends that his opinion […] is consonant to the words there used."
- "Cheerfulness, even gaiety, is consonant with every species of virtue and practice of religion, and I think it inconsistent only with impiety and vice."
- "This essential right of the courts to be free of intimidation and coercion was held to be consonant with a recognition that freedom of the press must be allowed in the broadest scope compatible with the supremacy of order."
- "1645-1650, James Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae consonant words and syllables"
Etymology
From Middle English consonant or consonaunt, from Old French consonant, from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding with”), from the prefix con- (“with”) + the present participle sonāns (“sounding”), from sonāre (“to sound”). The Latin is a calque of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: consonant, cōnsonāns, σύμφωνον
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/
- British English: /ˈkɒn.sə.nənt/