sibilant

English

WOTD – 10 January 2009

Etymology

From Latin sībilāns, present active participle of sībilō (I hiss).

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈsɪb.ɪ.lənt/
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Adjective

sibilant (comparative more sibilant, superlative most sibilant)

  1. Characterized by a hissing sound such as the "s" or "sh" in sash or surge.
    • 1960: Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
      She had a curious habit of prefacing everything she said with a soft sibilant sound.
      "S-s-s Grace," she said, "it's just like I was telling Brother Hutson the other day. 'S-s-s Brother Hutson,' I said, 'looks like we're fighting a losing battle, a losing battle.' I said."

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

sibilant (plural sibilants)

  1. (phonetics) A consonant having a hissing sound such as the 's' or 'sh' in 'sash' or 'surge'.
    Synonym: groove fricative
    Hypernym: fricative
    • 1955: H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7
      Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Danish

Noun

sibilant

  1. (phonetics) sibilant

Declension

Synonyms


Dutch

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibilant c (plural sibilanten, diminutive sibilantje n)

  1. sibilant

Synonyms


Latin

Verb

sībilant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of sībilō

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sibǐlant/
  • Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibìlant m (Cyrillic spelling сибѝлант)

  1. (phonetics) sibilant

Declension

Synonyms

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