assonance

[ as-uh-nuhns ]

noun

1. resemblance of sounds.
2. Also called vow·el rhyme [vou, -, uh, l rahym]. Prosody. rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence.
3. partial agreement or correspondence.

assonance

/ ˈæsənəns; ˌæsəˈnæntəl /

noun

1. the use of the same vowel sound with different consonants or the same consonant with different vowels in successive words or stressed syllables, as in a line of verse. Examples are time and light or mystery and mastery
2. partial correspondence; rough similarity

Derived Forms

• assonantal, adjective
• ˈassonant, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• as·so·nant adjective noun
• as·so·nan·tal [as-, uh, -, nan, -tl], as·so·nan·tic adjective
• non·as·so·nance noun
• non·as·so·nant adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of assonance¹

1720–30; < French, equivalent to asson ( ant ) sounding in answer ( as-, sonant ) + -ance -ance

Word History and Origins

Origin of assonance¹

C18: from French, from Latin assonāre to sound, from sonāre to sound

Example Sentences

The lyrics are empty, too — only the grating, nasal, syllable-extending assonance rhyming “vi-i-i-ral”/“hi-i-i-gh” has any stickiness.

From New York Times

“The assonance of it, the rhyme of it feels really good. So maybe having an emphasis more on the sound of the words than the meaning is actually part of what makes this genre compelling.”

From Seattle Times

As the book’s translator notes, Shree writes in English fluently but chooses to pen her novel in Hindi to preserve the language’s dhwani: its unique vibration and resonance, often through wordplay, alliteration and assonance.

From Washington Post

The poetry seems to perform hypnosis, the found rhymes and assonance and anaphora enacting an enchantment, a bewitchery; it seems to be giving subconscious advice.

From New York Times

At one point, he says: “She was like the perfect use of assonance in just the right amount of lines. Her pupils looked lost, and I wanted to be the teacher that teaches them to love what they see.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• chant
• lyric
• music
• refrain
• theme