vowel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A sound produced by the vocal cords with relatively little restriction of the oral cavity, forming the prominent sound of a syllable.

   Hawaiian has either five or twenty-five vowels, depending on how they are counted.

2. 2
   noun

   A letter or diacritic representing the sound of a vowel; in English, the vowels are a, e, i, o, u, w (rarely), and y (sometimes).

   The word facetiously is spelled with all six vowels in alphabetical order.

3. 3
   verb

   To add vowel points to a consonantal script (e.g. niqqud in Hebrew or harakat in Arabic).

   However it should be vowelled – perhaps ‘Almaqah’ – his name seems to be composed of ‘Il’, the general name of the paramount Semitic deity […], plus another element that is possibly from the Sabaic verb wqh, ‘to command’ […].

4. 4
   noun

   a speech sound made with the vocal tract open

5. 5
   noun

   a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel

Etymology

From Middle English vowel, from Old French vouel, a variant of voyeul (whence French voyelle), from Latin vōcālis (“voiced”), itself a semantic loan of Koine Greek φωνῆεν (phōnêen). Doublet of vocal and vocalis.