Definition of ALLITERATION (original) (raw)
: the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (such as _w_ild and _w_oolly, _thr_eatening _thr_ongs)
called also head rhyme, initial rhyme
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In alliteration, consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables are repeated. The repeated sounds are usually the first, or initial, sounds—as in "seven sisters"—but repetition of sounds in non-initial stressed, or accented, syllables is also common: "appear and report." Alliteration is a common feature in poetry, but it is also found in songs and raps and speeches and other kinds of writing, as well as in frequently used phrases, such as "pretty as a picture" and "dead as a doornail."
Alliteration can in its simplest form reinforce one or two consonant sounds, as in this line from William Shakespeare's "Sonnet XII":
When I do count the clock that tells the time
A more complex pattern of alliteration can be created when consonants both at the beginning of words and at the beginning of stressed syllables within words are repeated, as in the following line from Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Stanzas Written in Dejection Near Naples":
The _C_ity's voice it_s_elf is _s_oft like _S_olitude's
As a poetic device, alliteration is often discussed with assonance, the repetition of stressed vowel sounds within two or more words with different end consonants, as in "stony" and "holy"; and consonance, the repetition of end or medial consonants, as in "stroke" and "luck."
Examples of alliteration in a Sentence
As far as sound repetition goes, I don't have any principles. I try to stay away from heavy alliteration and other pyrotechnics because I think they detract from the sense of the poem and blur the imagery. —
Maxine Kumin, "A Questionnaire," 1977, in To Make a Prairie, 1979 More specifically, how are actual events deformed by the application to them of metaphor, rhetorical comparison, prose rhythm, assonance, alliteration, allusion, and sentence structures and connectives implying clear causality? —Paul Fussel, The Great War and Modern Memory, 1975
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
She was code-named Dancer in keeping with the alliteration traditionally used by the Secret Service. —Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025 The alliteration is a comment on the tactics that opponents say insurance companies use to delay or deny policyholders' claims. —Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2024 Pearson’s character, Oswald, is the most significant of these acts of thematic alliteration — an outgoing foil to the sullen Edward who looks a lot like Edward did before his treatment but who’s comfortable in his skin in a way that Edward has never been. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024 But Burchard’s inflammatory alliteration proved especially damaging by dampening enthusiasm for Blaine in New York among disaffected Democrats and Irish Catholic voters, Summers and historian Robert D. Marcus conclude. —Robert B. Mitchell / Made By History, TIME, 24 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for alliteration 
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin allīterātiōn-, allīterātiō, from Latin ad- ad- + lītera "letter" + -ātiōn-, -ātiō -ation — more at letter entry 1
Note: Word apparently coined by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano (ca. 1426-1503) in the dialogue Actius (written 1495-99, first printed 1507).
First Known Use
circa 1624, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of alliteration was circa 1624
Dictionary Entries Near alliteration
Cite this Entry
“Alliteration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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Last Updated: 21 Jan 2025 - Updated example sentences
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