alliteration
/əˌlɪtəˈɹeɪʃən/noun
alliteration is spelled A-L-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-I-O-N: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, alliteration means “The repetition of consonant sounds or letters at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; such…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of alliteration is alliterations.
How many letters and syllables are in alliteration?
| Letters | 12: A-L-L-I-T-E-R-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is alliteration?
Alliteration appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alliteration?
- US /əˌlɪtəˈɹeɪʃən/
- US [əˌlɪɾəˈɹeɪʃən]
Alliteration has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-ca-alliteration.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with alliteration?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as alliteration from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):
- situation
- association
- population
- administration
- operation
- organization
- application
- location
- generation
- foundation
- conversation
- investigation
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of alliteration
- alliterations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does alliteration mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The repetition of consonant sounds or letters at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; such repetition specifically involving stressed syllables.
- 2
The recurrence of the same letters or sounds in accented parts of words, as in Anglo-Saxon alliterative meter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alliteration in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the repetition of letters or sounds:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | allitération |
| German | Alliteration |
| Portuguese | aliteração |
| Spanish | aliteración |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does alliteration come from?
From New Latin allīterātiō, from allīterātus, from allīterō, from Latin ad (“to, towards, near”) and lītera (“a letter”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).