Meanings
plural fricatives
- human sciencesAny of several speech sounds produced by air flowing through a constriction in the oral cavity and typically producing a sibilant, hissing, or buzzing quality; a fricative consonant.
Watt listened for a time, for the voice was far from unmelodious. The fricatives in particular were pleasing.
1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLCSynonyms: spirant
comparative more fricative · superlative most fricative
- human sciencesproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of several speech sounds produced by air flowing through a constriction in the oral cavity and typically producing a sibilant, hissing, or buzzing quality; a fricative consonant.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as ‘f’, ‘s’, ‘z’, or ‘th’ in both ‘thin’ and ‘then’)
nouna continuant consonant produced by breath moving against a narrowing of the vocal tract
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰreyH-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰriH-o-s
- Proto-Italic*frios
- Latinfriō
- Latinfricō
- Latinfrictus
- Latinfricātus
- New Latinfricatīvus
- Englishfricative
From New Latin fricatīvus, from Latin fricāre (“to rub”). By surface analysis, fricate + -ive.
More words from New Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِحْتِكَاكِي, رَخْو
- اِحْتِكَاكِي (iḥtikākī)consonant
- رَخْو (raḵw)consonant
- صَوْت اِحْتِكَاكِي (ṣawt iḥtikākī)consonant
- صَوْت رَخْو (ṣawt raḵw)consonant
- رَخْو (raḵw)produced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Catalan fricatiu, fricatiu
- fricatiuconsonant
- fricatiuproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Chinese Mandarin 擦音
- 擦音 (cāyīn)consonant
Czech frikativa
- frikativaconsonant
Danish hæmmelyd, frikativ
- hæmmelydconsonant
- frikativconsonant
- frikativproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Dutch fricatief, wrijfklank
- fricatiefconsonant
- wrijfklankconsonant
Finnish frikatiivi, hankausäänne
- frikatiiviconsonant
- hankausäänneconsonant
French fricative, fricatif
- fricativeconsonant
- fricatifproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
German Frikativ, Reibelaut
- Frikativconsonant
- Reibelautconsonant
- frikativproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Hungarian réshang, frikatíva
- réshangconsonant
- frikatívaconsonant
Icelandic önghljóð
- önghljóðconsonant
Italian fricativo, fricativo
- fricativoconsonant
- fricativoproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Japanese 摩擦音
- 摩擦音 (masatsuon)consonant
Korean 마찰음
- 마찰음 (machareum)consonant
Norwegian Bokmål frikativ, spirant
- frikativconsonant
- spirantconsonant
Polish spółgłoska szczelinowa, trący
- spółgłoska szczelinowaconsonant
- trącyproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
- szczelinowyproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
- frykatywnyproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Portuguese fricativa, fricativo
- fricativaconsonant
- fricativoproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Russian фрикати́вный, щелево́й
- фрикати́вный (frikatívnyj)consonant
- щелево́й (ščelevój)consonant
- фрикати́вный (frikatívnyj)produced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
- щелево́й (ščelevój)produced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Scottish Gaelic suathach, suathach
- suathachconsonant
- suathachproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Spanish fricativa, fricativo
- fricativaconsonant
- fricativoproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Swedish frikativa
- frikativaconsonant
Welsh ffrithiolyn, ffrithiol
- ffrithiolynconsonant
- ffrithiolproduced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity
Cite this entry
fricative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fricative
“fricative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fricative. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fricative,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fricative.
Source: fricative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.