consonantal alliteration

noun

See under alliteration(def 1).

Words nearby consonantal alliteration

consonance, consonant, consonant shift, consonant system, consonantal, consonantal alliteration, consonantalize, consonantism, consonantize, consonants, consort

Definition for consonantal alliteration (2 of 2)

alliteration
[ uh-lit-uh-rey-shuh n ]
/ əˌlɪt əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group (consonantal alliteration), as in from stem to stern, or with a vowel sound that may differ from syllable to syllable (vocalic alliteration), as in each to all. Compare consonance(def 4a).
the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration's artful aid.

Origin of alliteration

1650–60; < Medieval Latin alliterātiōn-, stem of alliterātiō, equivalent to al- al- + literātiō, modeled after obliterātiō obliteration but intended to convey a derivative of littera letter

British Dictionary definitions for consonantal alliteration

alliteration
/ (əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃən) /

noun

the use of the same consonant (consonantal alliteration) or of a vowel, not necessarily the same vowel (vocalic alliteration), at the beginning of each word or each stressed syllable in a line of verse, as in around the rock the ragged rascal ran

Derived forms of alliteration

alliterative, adjective

Word Origin for alliteration

C17: from Medieval Latin alliterātiō (from Latin al- (see ad-) + litera letter), on the model of obliterātiō obliteration

Cultural definitions for consonantal alliteration

alliteration
[ (uh-lit-uh-ray-shuhn) ]

The repetition of the beginning sounds of words, as in “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” “long-lived,” “short shrift,” and “the fickle finger of fate.”