Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Late Latin
Origin: Greek onomatopoiia, from onoma 'name' + poiein 'to make'

onomatopoeia

 noun
     
Related topics: Literature, Linguistics
on‧o‧mat‧o‧poe‧ia [uncountable] technical
SL the use of words that sound like the thing that they are describing, for example 'hiss' or 'boom'
—onomatopoeic adjective
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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