sibilant

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪb.ɪ.lənt/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

sibilant (comparative more sibilant, superlative most sibilant)

1. Characterized by a hissing sound such as the "s" or "sh" in sash or surge.
   • 1960: Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

     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."

Noun

sibilant (plural sibilants)

1. (phonetics) A consonant having a hissing sound such as the 's' or 'sh' in 'sash' or 'surge'.
   • 1955: H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7

     Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.

Related terms

• sibilance
• sibilancy
• sibilate
• sibilation

Anagrams

• astilbin

Noun

sibilant

1. (phonetics) sibilant

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibilant c (plural sibilanten, diminutive sibilantje n)

1. sibilant

Verb

sībilant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of sībilō

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sibǐlant/
• Hyphenation: si‧bi‧lant

Noun

sibìlant m (Cyrillic spelling сибѝлант)

1. (phonetics) sibilant