n. 1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats). 2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills. 3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement. [French, from Latin assonāre, to respond to : ad-, ad- + sonāre, to sound; see swen- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] asso·nant adj. & n. as′so·nantal (-năntl) adj. |
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