Onomatopoeia

onomatopoeia (ŏn'əmăt'əpē`ə) [Gr.,=word-making], in language, the representation of a sound by an imitation thereof; e.g., the cat mews. Poets often convey the meaning of a verse through its very sound. For example, in "Song of the Lotus-Eaters" Tennyson indicates the slow, sensuous, and langorous life of the Lotus-Eaters by the sound of the words he uses to describe the land in which they live:

Here are cool mosses deep,
And through the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.

Onomatopoeia can also represent harsh and unpleasant sounds, as in Browning's "Meeting at Night":

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match.

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onomatopoeia

1. the formation of words whose sound is imitative of the sound of the noise or action designated, such as hiss, buzz, and bang

2. the use of such words for poetic or rhetorical effect

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Onomatopoeia 

in linguistics, sound-imitative words that develop out of a phonetic similarity to combinations of nonverbal sounds—for example, Russian miaukat’, “to meow” (from miau, “meow”). The term “onomatopoeia” also refers to the method by which sound-imitative words are formed, as well as to a particular type of onomatopoeic, or reduplicative, word. Often, “onomatopoeia” designates the conventional verbal imitation of the sound associated with a living or nonliving thing (ku-ku, “cuckoo”; bum-bum, “boom-boom”; a devitsa—khi-khi-khi! da kha-kha-kha! “And the girl goes ‘Hee, hee, hee!’ and ‘Ha, ha, ha!’ “). Onomatopoeia is used in poetry to create an image based on sound:

Budu akat’, budu okat’,
Kapliu-step’ voz’mu pod lokot’,
Kon’ poidet podkovoi tsokat’,
Ekat’ selezenkoiu. (A. Tarkovskii)