consonance
(ˈkɒnsənəns)
Also 5 -aunce.
[a. 14th c. F. consonance (now consonnance), ad. L. consonāntia harmony, agreement, f. consonānt-em pr. pple.: see consonant and -ance.]
1. Correspondence of sounds in words or syllables; recurrence of the same or like sounds, e.g. in a verse; = assonance 1.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xvi. (Arb.) 184 By vsing like cases, tenses, and other points of consonance, which they called Omoioteleton. 1593 Norden Spec. Brit. i. 10 Tranton..hath no such semblable consonance with Trinobantum. a 1698 Temple On Poetry (Seager), With allusions of words, or consonance of syllables. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Gray Wks. IV. 306 The ode is finished before the ear has learned its measures, and consequently before it can receive pleasure from their consonance and recurrence. 1862 Marsh Eng. Lang. 401, I think the introduction of these consonances a very happy feature in Mr. Longfellow's hexameters. 1871 R. F. Weymouth Euph. 5 Consonances are heard in such pairs of words as canonized, eternized..dissolute, resolute. |
2. Agreement of sounds; pleasing combination of sounds. (In later use with allusion to 3.)
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 228 To be called by a good surname, and a gracious Christian name, which may deliuer a pleasing consonance to the eare. 1728 Thomson Spring 295 (1738) Winds and Waters flow'd in consonance. 1814 Southey Roderick xvii. 43 The quiet sound of gentle winds and waters with their lulling consonance. |
3. Mus. The sounding together of two notes in harmony; the quality or fact of being consonant or concordant. (Opposed to dissonance.)
| 1694 W. Holder Harmony (1731) 59 Thus far the Rates and Measures of Consonance lead us on. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Notes in consonance constitute harmony, as notes in succession constitute melody. 1784 J. Potter Virt. Villagers II. 149 Joining several voices, or instruments, in consonance. 1881 Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 291 Helmholtz has well illustrated the consonance and dissonance of the various notes of the scale by a graphic illustration. |
b. A consonant ‘interval’ or combination of two notes, a concord.
| 1624 Wotton Archit. (1672) 34 The two principal Consonances, that most ravish the ear, are..the fifth, and the octave. 1878 C. H. H. Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 159 Beats are..most noticeable in unisons and consonances. 1884 Bosanquet Encycl. Brit. XVII. 106/2 (Music), The definition of consonances as intervals which can be tuned free from beats lies at the basis of almost all music. |
4. Acoustics. The sounding of a body, e.g. a tuning-fork, in sympathy with the vibration of another body of the same pitch sounded near it.
| 1882 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |
5. fig. Agreement, harmony, concord. (The earliest sense in Eng.)
| 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy Prol., They write..by suche consonance That in theyr bokes was no variaunce. 1592 A. Day Eng. Secretarie i. (1625) 31 The consonance and agreement they have either with reputation or dignity. 1623 Favine Theat. Hon. ii. xiii. 201 With whom they have consonance enough in manners. 1854 Marion Harland Alone x, Consonance of feeling and sentiment. |
b. Phr. in consonance with.
| 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 492 The discoveries of philosophy are in consonance with the details..given in the Sacred Writings. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xiv. 347 She is merely acting in consonance with her husband's expressed wish. |