Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

onomatope

/ˈɑnəmətoʊp/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: ono-matope
IPA: /ˈɑnəmətoʊp/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A word formed by onomatopoeia or mimesis.

Example Sentences

"Some of the onomatopes were given with the notations of their respective sounds as they appear to the Indian ear; thus, the sound of the plane and drawing-knife (s-s-s) becomes the root sⁱu […]"
"From the start, [Jean] Gabin’s voice belonged to a popular, Parisian, sociological register, with his stress on vowels (‘a’ becomes ‘âââ’), his colourful slang and onomatopes such as ‘bah !’, ‘bof !’, ‘Eeeh ben !’ (for ‘Eh bien !’ [‘well!’])."

Etymology

Irregular back-formation from onomatopoeia.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɑnəmətoʊp/
British English: /ˈɒnəmətəʊp/

Inflected Forms

onomatopes (plural)

Synonyms

ideophone

Questions

How do you pronounce onomatope?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɑnəmətoʊp/.
What does onomatope mean?: A word formed by onomatopoeia or mimesis.
Where does onomatope come from?: Irregular back-formation from onomatopoeia.

How to pronounce onomatope

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “onomatope”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɑnəmətoʊp/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “onomatope”.
Repeat and practice — Say “onomatope” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.