What does sonance mean?
Sonance is a literary noun with two closely related meanings. In its principal sense, it denotes the quality of a sound that is full, clear, and resonant, especially when sustained or echoing. It can therefore describe the sonance of a voice, an instrument, or an architectural space. In a second, older and more specialized sense, sonance means a rhyme or the agreement of sounds at the ends of words or lines. Although the word appears in dictionaries and in discussions of poetic technique, ordinary speakers are more likely to use resonance, sonority, or rhyme. Sonance remains useful as a concise expression for sound heard as both powerful and harmonious. It is especially associated with formal and poetic language rather than everyday conversation.
nounThe quality of being sonorous or resonant; also, a rhyme or correspondence of sounds.
- The quality or condition of being sonorous, full, or resonant.
- A rhyme or correspondence of sounds, especially between the endings of words or lines of verse.
"The spacious sonance of the cathedral organ filled the vast interior."
"The bell's sonance lingered long after the ringing had stopped."
"The poet uses the sonance of repeated vowel sounds to unify the stanza."
The plural is grammatical but uncommon because the word is normally used in the singular.
"The composer's use of instrumental sonances gives the movement an open, spacious character."
A largely literary word for both the fullness of a sound and the matching of sounds in rhyme.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sonance come from?
The word entered Middle English in the late medieval period as sonaunce, borrowed from Late Latin sonantia. Its ultimate source is the Latin verb sonare, meaning “to sound” or “to resound.” Related English words include sonant, sonorous, sonority, and sonata, all of which belong to the same broad sound-related family.
Related word forms
How sonance is actually used
A literary and comparatively uncommon word, encountered especially in poetry criticism and formal discussion of sound. Its sense of rhyme is more traditional than its sense of resonant quality.
Easily confused with sonance
Sonance can refer to a resonant sound or to rhyme, whereas sonority more generally denotes the quality of being sonorous.