vowel
Definitions
General English
- noun one of the five letters, a, e, i, o and u, which represent sounds made without using the teeth, tongue or lips
Information & Library Science
- noun the five letters a, e, i, o, u in the Roman alphabet, at least one of which is required to make a word pronounceable in most western languages
Origin & History of “vowel”
A vowel is etymologically a ‘vocal’ sound – that is, one made by vibrating the vocal chords. The word comes via Old French vouel from Latin vōcālis. this was short for littera vōcālis ‘vocal letter, letter that sounds’, sonus vōcālis ‘vocal sound’, etc. Vōcālis (source of English vocal) was derived from vōx ‘voice’ (source of English voice).
