Meanings
plural alliterations
- countableuncountableThe repetition of consonant sounds or letters at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; such repetition specifically involving stressed syllables.
So fish fury all round, as there has been in the past. And as an aside, that alliteration was, sadly, not mine that of a former political correspondent of the Daily Record, John Deans, and applied to the 'cod wars' with Iceland.
2018 March 20, “Fish fury flares over Brussels Brexit deal”, in ITV - countableuncountableThe recurrence of the same letters or sounds in accented parts of words, as in Anglo-Saxon alliterative meter.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounuse of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinad“to, towards, near”
- New Latinallīterātiō
- Englishalliteration
From New Latin allīterātiō, from allīterātus, from allīterō, from Latin ad (“to, towards, near”) and lītera (“a letter”).
More words from New Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan al·literació
- al·literacióthe repetition of letters or sounds
Chinese Mandarin 頭韻 /头韵, 雙聲 /双声
- 頭韻 /头韵 (tóuyùn)the repetition of letters or sounds
- 雙聲 /双声 (shuāngshēng)the repetition of letters or sounds
Danish allitteration
- allitterationthe repetition of letters or sounds
Dutch alliteratie, stafrijm
- alliteratiethe repetition of letters or sounds
- stafrijmthe repetition of letters or sounds
Esperanto aliteracio
- aliteraciothe repetition of letters or sounds
Finnish alkusointu, allitteraatio
- alkusointuthe repetition of letters or sounds
- allitteraatiothe repetition of letters or sounds
- alliteraatiothe repetition of letters or sounds
French allitération
- allitérationthe repetition of letters or sounds
German Alliteration
- Alliterationthe repetition of letters or sounds
Greek παρήχηση
- παρήχηση (paríchisi)the repetition of letters or sounds
Hindi अनुप्रास
- अनुप्रास (anuprās)the repetition of letters or sounds
Hungarian alliteráció
- alliterációthe repetition of letters or sounds
Icelandic stuðlun, stafrím
- stuðlunthe repetition of letters or sounds
- stafrímthe repetition of letters or sounds
Indonesian aliterasi
- aliterasithe repetition of letters or sounds
Irish uaim
- uaimthe repetition of letters or sounds
Italian allitterazione
- allitterazionethe repetition of letters or sounds
Japanese 頭韻
- 頭韻 (touin)the repetition of letters or sounds
Korean 두운
- 두운 (duun)the repetition of letters or sounds
Māori orokati tārua, orokatirua
- orokati tāruathe repetition of letters or sounds
- orokatiruathe repetition of letters or sounds
Persian واج آرایی
- واج آرایی (vâj ârâyi)the repetition of letters or sounds
Polish aliteracja
- aliteracjathe repetition of letters or sounds
Portuguese aliteração
- aliteraçãothe repetition of letters or sounds
Russian аллитера́ция
- аллитера́ция (alliterácija)the repetition of letters or sounds
Spanish aliteración
- aliteraciónthe repetition of letters or sounds
Swedish allitteration, stavrim
- allitterationthe repetition of letters or sounds
- stavrimthe repetition of letters or sounds
- bokstavsrimthe repetition of letters or sounds
- uddrimthe repetition of letters or sounds
Tagalog aliterasyon, saulinig
- aliterasyonthe repetition of letters or sounds
- saulinigthe repetition of letters or sounds
Tamil மோனை
- மோனை (mōṉai)the repetition of letters or sounds
Turkish aliterasyon, ses benzeşmesi
- aliterasyonthe repetition of letters or sounds
- ses benzeşmesithe repetition of letters or sounds
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with alliteration
Cite this entry
alliteration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alliteration
“alliteration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alliteration. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alliteration,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alliteration.
Source: alliteration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.