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Webster 1913 Edition


Sibilant

Sib′i-lant

,
Adj.
[L.
sibilans
,
-antis
, p. pr. of
sibilare
to hiss: cf. F.
sibilant
.]
Making a hissing sound; uttered with a hissing sound; hissing;
as, s, z, sh, and zh, are
sibilant
elementary sounds
.
Noun.
A sibiliant letter.

Webster 1828 Edition


Sibilant

SIB'ILANT

,
Adj.
[L. sibilo, to hiss.] Hissing; making a hissing sound. S and z are called sibilant letters.

SIB'ILANT

,
Noun.
A letter that is uttered with a hissing of the voice; as s and z.

Definition 2024


sibilant

sibilant

English

Adjective

sibilant (comparative more sibilant, superlative most sibilant)

  1. Characterized by a hissing sound such as the "s" or "sh" in sash or surge.
    • 1960: Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
      She had a curious habit of prefacing everything she said with a soft sibilant sound.
      "S-s-s Grace," she said, "it's just like I was telling Brother Hutson the other day. 'S-s-s Brother Hutson,' I said, 'looks like we're fighting a losing battle, a losing battle.' I said."

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

sibilant (plural sibilants)

  1. (phonetics) A consonant having a hissing sound such as the 's' or 'sh' in 'sash' or 'surge'.
    • 1955: H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7
      Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.

Derived terms

Synonyms

Translations

Related terms


Dutch

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibilant c (plural sibilanten, diminutive sibilantje n)

  1. sibilant

Synonyms


Latin

Verb

sībilant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of sībilō

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sibǐlant/
  • Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibìlant m (Cyrillic spelling сибѝлант)

  1. (phonetics) sibilant

Declension

Synonyms