Onomatopoeia

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Onomatopoeia \On`o*mat`o*poe"ia\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; 'o`noma,
     'ono`matos, a name + poiei^n to make.] (Philol.)
     The formation of words in imitation of sounds; a figure of
     speech in which the sound of a word is imitative of the sound
     of the thing which the word represents; as, the buzz of bees;
     the hiss of a goose; the crackle of fire.


     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: It has been maintained by some philologist that all
           primary words, especially names, were formed by
           imitation of natural sounds, but this is not believed
           by most.
           [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  onomatopoeia
       n : using words that imitate the sound they denote

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  23 Moby Thesaurus words for "onomatopoeia":
     bowwow theory, copying, counterfeiting, echoic word, emulation,
     fakery, following, forgery, hit-off, imitation, impersonation,
     imposture, impression, mimesis, mirroring, onomatope,
     onomatopoeic word, parody, plagiarism, plagiary, repetition,
     simulation, takeoff