sibilant meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

sibilant

adj

AU, CA, US, UK /ˈsɪb.ɪ.lənt/ · NZ /ˈsəb.ə.lənt/

Etymology From Latin sībilāns, present active participle of sībilō (“to hiss”).

Characterized by a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack.

She had a curious habit of prefacing everything she said with a soft sibilant sound. "S-s-s Grace," she said, "it's just like I was telling Brother Hutson the other day. 'S-s-s Brother Hutson,' I said, 'looks like we're fighting a losing battle, a losing battle.' I said."1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

Synonyms: hissing, hissy, sibilatory, sibilant, sibilous
Derived terms: non-sibilant, sibilantly, sibilant rhonchus, unsibilant
Related terms: snakelike
Hyponyms: fizzly, sizzly, swishy, swooshy, whispery, whistly, whizzy, whooshy, zippy, zingy

noun

Etymology From Latin sībilāns, present active participle of sībilō (“to hiss”).

Human sciences, Linguistics, Phonetics, Phonology, Sciences A consonant having a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack.

Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.1955, H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7: