Basic Details
Word: Onomatopoeia
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The use of words that sound like the noise they describe, such as buzz, hiss, thud and sizzle; also a word of this kind.
Word origin: Comes from Greek onomatopoiia, from onoma, name, and poiein, to make: making a name from a sound.
How to Spell Onomatopoeia
Syllables: on - o - mat - o - poe - ia
Tricky part: The first part has three o's and one a (on-o-mat-o), and the end is poeia (p-o-e-i-a), said pee-uh. The oe is the part almost everyone leaves out.
Watch out for: onomatopia, onamatopoeia, onomatopoea
Memory tip: Say it in chunks: on-o-mat-o-poe-ia. Before poe, the only a is in mat. Then comes poe, like the poet Edgar Allan Poe, and last of all ia.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The poem is full of onomatopoeia: the rain goes pitter-patter and the thunder goes boom.
Example 2: Comic books use onomatopoeia like pow and whoosh to show action.
Example 3: Our teacher asked us to find three examples of onomatopoeia in the chapter on the railway station.
Fun Fact
Animal sounds change from language to language. An English dog says woof, while in Hindi a dog goes bhau-bhau. Both are onomatopoeia.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. aliteration 2. onomatopoeia 3. metaphour 4. personnification
a) giving human qualities to an animal or object
b) the use of the same sound at the start of several nearby words
c) describing something as if it were something else
d) the use of words that copy the sound of what they describe
Show answer
d) the use of words that copy the sound of what they describe. Onomatopoeia is the only correct spelling here; the others should be alliteration, metaphor and personification.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Words such as crackle, thud and sizzle are examples of aeotopomanoi.
a) onomatopoeia
b) onomatopoeic
c) pharmacopoeia
d) onomastics
Show answer
a) onomatopoeia. The letters make onomatopoeia, the noun for sound words; onomatopoeic is the adjective and has a c.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
on_mat_p_eia
a) o, o, e
b) o, a, e
c) o, o, o
d) a, o, o
Show answer
c) o, o, o. Onomatopoeia is on-o-mat-o-p-o-eia, with an o in each blank.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word is an example of onomatopoeia?
a) table
b) sizzle
c) quickly
d) happy
Show answer
b) sizzle
2. Which line uses onomatopoeia?
a) She is as brave as a lion.
b) The wind wept all night.
c) The sky was a blue blanket.
d) The bees buzzed around the hive.
Show answer
d) The bees buzzed around the hive.
