consonant
noun/ˈkɒnsənənt/
/ˈkɑːnsənənt/
- (phonetics) a speech sound made by completely or partly stopping the flow of air through the mouth or noseTopics Languagea2
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- a letter of the alphabet that represents a consonant sound, for example ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’, ‘f’, etc. compare vowel
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘letter representing a consonant’): via Old French from Latin consonare ‘sound together’, from con- ‘with’ + sonare ‘to sound’ (from sonus ‘sound’).
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See consonant in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee consonant in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishCheck pronunciation:
consonant