: one of a class of speech sounds in the articulation of which the oral part of the breath channel is not blocked and is not constricted enough to cause audible friction
broadly: the one most prominent sound in a syllable
2
: a letter or other symbol representing a vowel—usually used in English of a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebYou are known on campus for your moving performance in an all-vowel-no-consonants Antigone, but about corporations. Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Sep. 2022 Here’s the most labyrinthine but most useful spelling rule in U.S. English: Words ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before the suffix if the accent falls on the last syllable of the root word. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Sep. 2022 As an underused and somewhat archaic word, droll–which means unusually funny, usually in a dry way–ends in a classic double letter, has only one vowel, and really isn’t common lexicon. Matt Gardner, Forbes, 7 July 2022 And to burrrow into the nitty gritty of Tolkien's daily scholarship, feast your eyes on his handwritten chart of vowel changes from Vespasian Psalter glosses. Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2022 Every vowel was used in today’s game as well, which may cause some complications. Kris Holt, Forbes, 5 June 2022 Nameberry notes that names that start with a vowel are becoming some of the most popular baby girl names in 2022.Woman's Day, 8 July 2022 Any word that starts with a vowel is usually bad news for a lot of Wordle players, but ALBUM is a bit of a perfect storm of problems. Matt Gardner, Forbes, 2 June 2022 My opening guess here got me a green on the left word and, more crucially, the letter ‘O’ which ends up being the main vowel across both words. Erik Kain, Forbes, 17 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French vowele, from Latin vocalis — more at vocalic
ADJECTIVE | VERB + VOWEL | VOWEL + NOUNADJECTIVE➤long, short長元音;短元音▸➤open, rounded開元音;圓唇元音➤back, front後元音;前元音▸➤weak弱元音▸➤flat窄口元音▸➤final尾元音▸➤accented, stressed重讀元音▸➤unaccented, unstressed非重讀元音VERB + VOWEL➤begin with, contain, end in, end with以元音開始;包含元音;以元音結尾➤pronounce發元音◇Americans pronounce this vowel like the one in 'may'.美國人發這個元音,就像發 may 這個單詞中的元音一樣。VOWEL + NOUN➤sound元音➤length元音音長▸➤system元音體系