Advertisement

spirant (n.)

breathy consonant, 1862, from Latin spirantem (nominative spirans) "breathing," present participle of spirare "to breathe, blow" (see spirit (n.)).

Entries related to spirant

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of spirant from WordNet
1
spirant (n.)
a continuant consonant produced by breath moving against a narrowing of the vocal tract;
Synonyms: fricative consonant / fricative
2
spirant (adj.)
of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as `f', `s', `z', or `th' in both `thin' and `then');
Synonyms: fricative / continuant / sibilant / strident
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near spirant

spinoff

spinster

spiny

spiracle

spiral

spirant

spire

spirillum

spirit

spirited

-spirited

© 2001-2020 Douglas Harper