consonant

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English consonant, also consonaunt,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French consonant and directly borrowed from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding together, agreeing”),^[4][5][2][6] the present participle of cōnsonō (“to sound together, be in harmony”),^[4][5][7] formed from com- (“together”) and sonō (“to sound”),^[5][7][8] from sonus (“sound”),^[6] from Proto-Indo-European *swen- (“to sound”).^[5][7] As a noun it is short for the Latin phrase cōnsonāns littera, a letter sounding with another,^[4][6] a loan translation of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon, “sounding together”).^[6] Latin also had consona in the same sense, the source of consonne.^[4] The adjective came from French as well, in the 14th century consonant, now consonnant.^[4][5][9] In Anglo-Norman consonant is recorded from the late 12th century, meaning in agreement with, and as a rhyme.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A letter other than a vowel: about 1308, in the Satire on the People of Kildare.^[4] Barnhart dates the noun to probably before 1325,^[6] and Etymonline to the early 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Consonants were so called because they were thought to be sounded only together with a vowel.^[5][8][11] The word first named letters; from 1603 it also named the speech sounds themselves.^[4] The adjective "agreeing, consistent, harmonious" appears in the early 15th century,^[5][2] 1410 in Barnhart,^[6] and in Caxton from 1483 and 1489;^[4] it soon took to or with after it.^[4][12] Johnson (1755) defined it as agreeable, according, consistent.^[12] It was used of sounds and music, harmonious, from about 1521, and in music theory, forming a concord, from 1609.^[4] From 1645 it was used of words that are alike in sound.^[4][5] The noun once also meant agreement (c. 1425–1618) and musical harmony.^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 1308 – noun, a letter other than a vowel.^[4]
• 1410 – adjective, agreeing, consistent.^[6][2]
• c. 1425 – noun, agreement (obsolete by 1618).^[4]
• 1489 – in agreement or harmony with.^[4]
• c. 1521 – of sounds, harmonious.^[4]
• 1603 – noun, a speech sound other than a vowel.^[4]
• 1609 – in music, forming a concord.^[4]
• 1645 – of words, alike in sound.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A speech sound made by closing or narrowing the vocal tract at some point, such as p, n or s; any sound of a syllable other than its vowel.^[13][14]
2. A letter of the alphabet that stands for such a sound.^[14][9][4]
3. (obsolete, 1425–1618) Agreement, accord.^[4][2]

Adjective

1. In agreement; consistent or in keeping with, followed by with or to: The verdict was consonant with the evidence.^[14][13][4]
2. Harmonious in sound.^[14][4]
3. (music) Marked by consonance; forming a concord.^[14][4]

Word family

• consonantly
• consonantlike
• consonantal
• consonantism
• inconsonant
• unconsonant
• consonantize

Related words

• consonance
• sonant
• sound
• dissonant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins