From Latin 'assonāre' (to echo), 'ad-' + 'sonāre' (to sound) — the repetition of vowel sounds, central to Romance epic poetry.
The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words, used as a literary device to create internal rhyming effects; resemblance of sound between syllables.
From French 'assonance' (partial rhyme), from Latin 'assonāre' (to respond with sound, to echo), composed of 'ad-' (to, toward) + 'sonāre' (to produce sound). 'Sonāre' derives from PIE *swen- (to sound, make noise), the same root behind Latin 'sonus' (sound), Old English 'swinn' (music, melody), and Welsh 'sain' (sound). The technique of matching only vowel sounds — rather than full consonant
Spanish poetry relied heavily on assonance rather than full rhyme for centuries. The great Spanish epics and romances used 'rima asonante' — matching only the vowel sounds in the final two syllables — which gave poets far more freedom than the strict full rhymes required in English or Italian verse. This is why the term 'assonance' entered English from the study of Romance-language poetry.
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