noun Onomatopoeia n. (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. 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.
Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48
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