vowel

Meaning

Noun

1. A sound produced by the vocal cords with relatively little restriction of the oral cavity, forming the prominent sound of a syllable.
2. A letter representing the sound of a vowel; in English, the vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y.

Verb

To add vowel points to a consonantal script (e.g. niqqud in Hebrew or harakat in Arabic).

Synonyms

vowel sound

dedicator

letter

sound

🔉

vocal

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈvaʊ.əl/

Etymology

From Middle English vouel, from Old French vouel, a variant of voyeul (whence French voyelle), from Latin vōcālis (“voiced”), itself a semantic loan of Koine Greek φωνῆεν (phōnêen). Doublet of vocal.