assonance
/ˈas(ə)nəns
/noun [mass noun]
Resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words, arising particularly from the rhyming of two or more stressed vowels, but not consonants (e.g. sonnet, porridge), but also from the use of identical consonants with different vowels (e.g. killed, cold, culled): the use of assonance throughout the poem creates the sound of despair [count noun]: alliterative assonances such as ‘fail’ and ‘fall’ are very common in Old English poetry...
- Just look at (and, preferably, listen to) his use of assonance - repeated vowel sounds throughout a section.
- First, it has the qualities of rhythm, alliteration, and assonance verging on rhyme that we might expect of a memorable turn of phrase.
- In all of these cases, the deft repetitions and modulations of consonants and vowels with their subtle assonance and consonance compete for attention with the lines' actual content.
Derivatives
assonant
/ adjective ...- By definition, it is a poem with an unlimited number of octosyllabic verses and assonant rhyme in even-numbered verses.
- The beauty of this one is that its a little rhyming verse or at least nicely assonant.
assonate
/ verb ...- ‘What I expected’ is an adroit compromise between the impulses to form and to freedom: ‘twist’ fails to rhyme convincingly with ‘pass,’ but in that failure assonates and alliterates with ‘questions.’
- The amhrán or song metres have a richly assonated stanzaic form, and are also accentual.
Origin
Early 18th century: from French, from Latin assonare 'respond to', from ad- 'to' + sonare (from sonus 'sound').
- play something out
- play something up
- playstead
- play street
- playsuit
- playtest
- playtesting
- play-the-ball
- play the devil with
- play the field
- play the game
- play the giddy goat
- play the market
- play the percentages (or the percentage game)
- play therapist
- play therapy
- plaything
- playtime
- play to the gallery
- play truant
- play up
- play up to
- playway
- play-white
- play with fire