Added 9 October 2026
onomatopoeia
/ˌɒnəˌmætəˈpiːə/ noun
In Latin: onomatopoeïa Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about onomatopoeia at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.
- A word that sounds like what it represents, such as gurgle, stutter, or hiss. A word that appropriates a sound for another sensation or a perceived nature, such as thud, beep, or meow; an ideophone, phenomime.
- A word that appropriates a sound for another sensation or a perceived nature, such as thud, beep, or meow; an ideophone, phenomime.
Origin
Borrowed from Latin onomatopoeïa, from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía, “the coining of a word in imitation of a sound”), from ὀνοματοποιέω (onomatopoiéō, “to coin names”), from ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) + ποιέω (poiéō, “to make, to do, to produce”). By surface analysis, onomato- + -poeia.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)