 | WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
| WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
Alliteration
Pronunciation : Al*lit`er*a"tion
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. ad + litera letter. See Letter.]
Definition : Defn: The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness. Milton. Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson.
Note: The recurrence of the same letter in accented parts of words is also called alliteration. Anglo-Saxon poetry is characterized by alliterative meter of this sort. Later poets also employed it. In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne, I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe were. P. Plowman.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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