alliteration

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“
Lyly, but a simple alliteration -- "a rudimentary euphuism of balanced and alliterative phrases, probably like the alliteration of Anglo-Saxon homilies, borrowed from popular poetry [54]."

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences” (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds.

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Examples (50)

  • This device like alliteration is a method of intensifying the expression of a passage, and is frequently adopted by the poets. —  Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
  • The affectation “of the word” and “of the letter,” for alliteration was almost as fashionable as punning, seemed, in some degree, to bring back English composition to the barbarous rules of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, the merit of whose poems consisted, not in the ideas, but in the quaint arrangement of the words, and the regular recurrence of some favourite sound or letter. —  The Dramatic Works of John Dryden Vol. I
  • The alphabet song is one of my favorites, ever, full of wonderful, silly alliteration, and childish imagery. —  Holidailies 2008
  • I like the alliteration: proper, pleasing, perfect. —  American Chronicle
  • Arsenal (alliteration is a blogger's second best friend). —  Soccer Blogs - latest posts
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Words tagged alliteration

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This word has been looked up 475 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From ad- + Latin littera, letter.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French allitération, from Middle Latin alliteratio(n-), from alliterare: see alliterate, v.
 

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/ælɪtəˈreɪʃən/
by American Heritage

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