On`o*mat`o*poe"ia (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. onoma a name + poiein to make.] Philol.

The formation of words in imitation of sounds; a figure of speech in which the sound of a word is imitative of the sound of the thing which the word represents; as, the buzz of bees; the hiss of a goose; the crackle of fire.

It has been maintained by some philologists that all primary words, especially names, were formed by imitation of natural sounds.

 

© Webster 1913.