consonant

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English

WOTD – 30 April 2012

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).

Pronunciation

Noun

Examples (letter)

The 20 unquestionable consonants in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Z.

consonant (plural consonants)

  1. (phonetics) 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.
  2. A letter representing the sound of a consonant.
    • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate , New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, , →OCLC:
      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.
    • 1908, Jack London, chapter 4, in The Iron Heel‎, New York: The Macmillan Company:
      “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.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Swahili: konsonanti

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adjective

consonant (comparative more consonant, superlative most consonant)

  1. consistent, harmonious, compatible, or in agreement
    • 1710, William Beveridge, The true nature of the Christian church, the office of its ministers, and the means of grace administred by them explain'd. In twelve sermons:
      Each one pretends that his opinion […] is consonant to the words there used.
    • 1900, Sabine Baring-Gould, “The Rev. Mr. Carter, Parson-Publican”, in Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents and Strange Events:
      Cheerfulness, even gaiety, is consonant with every species of virtue and practice of religion, and I think it inconsistent only with impiety and vice.
    • 1946, United States Supreme Court, Pennekamp v. Florida 328 U.S. 331,334
      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.
  2. Having the same sound.
    • 1645-1650, James Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae
      consonant words and syllables
  3. (music) Harmonizing together; accordant.
    consonant tones; consonant chords
  4. Of or relating to consonants; made up of, or containing many, consonants.
    • 1813, Thomas Moore, Intercepted Letters, or the Two-Penny Post-Bag:
      No Russian whose dissonant consonant name / Almost shatters to fragments the trumpet of fame.

Quotations

Antonyms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnsonantem. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

Adjective

consonant m or f (masculine and feminine plural consonants)

  1. consonant

Noun

consonant f (plural consonants)

  1. consonant

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ “consonant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Further reading

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

consonant (feminine consonante, masculine plural consonants, feminine plural consonantes)

  1. consonant

Further reading

Latin

Pronunciation

Verb

cōnsonant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of cōnsonō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin consonans or French consonant.

Adjective

consonant m or n (feminine singular consonantă, masculine plural consonanți, feminine and neuter plural consonante)

  1. consonant

Declension

Declension of consonant
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite consonant consonantă consonanți consonante
definite consonantul consonanta consonanții consonantele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite consonant consonante consonanți consonante
definite consonantului consonantei consonanților consonantelor
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