alliteration
pronunciation
How to pronounce alliteration in British English:
UK [əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃn]
How to pronounce alliteration in American English:
US [əˌlɪtəˈreʃən]
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- Noun:
- use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse
Word Origin
- alliteration
- alliteration: [17] Alliteration is an anglicization of alliterātiō, a modern Latin coinage based on the prefix ad- ‘to’ and litera ‘letter’ – from the notion of an accumulation of words beginning with the same letter. The verb alliterate is an early 19th-century back-formation from alliteration.=> letter
- alliteration (n.)
- 1650s, "a begining with the same letter," from Modern Latin alliterationem (nominative alliteratio), noun of action from past participle stem of alliterare "to begin with the same letter," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + littera (also litera) "letter, script" (see letter). Formed on model of obliteration, etc. Related: Alliterational.
Example
- 1. Pardon the alliteration , but which would prefer ?
- 2. Here one young chap demonstrates the simple but effective linguistic device of alliteration
- 3. You 're a little too in love with alliteration , so much so that you 've thought about giving all your children alliterative names .
- 4. Some of the devices franklin used to give the sayings a sharpness and impact were the change of one or more words to a more graphic word or phrase , the use of a shorter , more concise construction , and the use of alliteration .