Alliterate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To repeat the initial consonant sound in closely connected words primarily in writing or speech; to compose text featuring this stylistic device; to employ a rhetorical technique emphasizing sound repetition
2. To begin adjacent or nearby words with the same consonant sound to enhance musicality or emphasis; to create phrases or sentences using repeated initial sounds; to use a poetic or linguistic device focusing on consonant repetition
3. To produce a series of words in which the first consonant sound recurs for artistic or mnemonic effect; to craft expressions characterized by repeated onset sounds; to utilize a phonetic pattern that highlights consonant repetition at word beginnings

Etymology: "Alliterate" is a back-formation from "alliteration", meaning it was created by stripping the ending off an existing noun and treating the remainder as a new verb. Alliteration itself comes from Latin "alliteratio", built from "ad-" (to) and "littera" (letter), so it literally means the placing of letters together, or the repetition of a letter sound at the start of words. The verb therefore carries the same core idea as its parent noun. Writers who alliterate string words such as "peter piper picked" so that the opening consonant sound repeats across the phrase. The formation is a useful reminder that English often creates verbs this way: speakers needed a word for the act, and the more familiar noun supplied the raw material.

Synonyms: rhyme, repeat consonants, begin similarly