assonance

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, especially in poetry

   The poet uses assonance to give the final lines a mournful rhythm.

From French assonance, based on Latin assonare, ‘to sound in response,’ from ad- ‘to’ and sonare ‘to sound.’ The term entered English through the vocabulary of poetic analysis.

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