'Onomatopoeia' means 'name-making' — connecting the naming root with 'poiein' (to make), source of 'poet.'
The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., 'buzz,' 'hiss,' 'splash'); a word formed in this way.
From Greek 'onomatopoiía' (the coining of words in imitation of sounds), composed of 'ónoma' (name, word — genitive 'onómatos') + 'poiein' (to make, to create, to compose). The noun element traces to PIE *h₁nómn̥ (name), one of the most widely attested roots in all Indo-European: Sanskrit 'nāma,' Latin 'nōmen' (→ 'nominal,' 'noun,' 'renown'), Old English 'nama' (→ 'name'), Greek 'ónoma' (→ 'anonymous,' 'synonym,' 'onomatopoeia'). The verb element 'poiein' (to make) gave Greek 'poíēsis' (making, creation
Onomatopoeia varies across languages in surprising ways. A rooster says 'cock-a-doodle-doo' in English, 'cocorico' in French, 'kikeriki' in German, and 'ko-ke-kok-ko' in Japanese. The actual sound is the same — but each language's phonological system shapes how speakers hear and represent it.