consonant
/ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/noun, adjective
consonant is spelled C-O-N-S-O-N-A-N-T. The wrong spelling people search most is consonent: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 67 of all searches for the word. Consonant is a noun meaning “A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not…”. The plural of consonant is consonants.
How many letters and syllables are in consonant?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-S-O-N-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, consonent, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell consonant?
Consonant is spelled C-O-N-S-O-N-A-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 67 of the searches for consonant in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is consonant?
Consonant appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st 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 consonant?
- UK /ˈkɒn.sə.nənt/
- US /ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/
- US /ˈkɑns.nənt/
Consonant has 3 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-us-consonant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of consonant
- consonants plural
- more consonant comparative
- most consonant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does consonant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant sound generally being a vowel.
- 2
A letter representing the sound of a consonant.
adjective
- 1
Consistent, harmonious, compatible, or in agreement.
This essential right of the courts to be free of intimidation and coercion was held to be consonant with a recognition that freedom of the press must be allowed in the broadest scope compatible with the supremacy of order.
- 2
Having the same sound.
- 3
Harmonizing together; accordant.
consonant tones; consonant chords
- 4
Of or relating to consonants; made up of, or containing many, consonants.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate consonant?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of consonant: C.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Consonant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | consonne , consonant |
| German | Konsonant, Mitlaut , konsonantisch |
| Portuguese | consoante , concordante |
| Spanish | consonante |
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 consonant come from?
From Middle English consonant or consonaunt, from Old French consonant, from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding with”), from the prefix con- (“with”) + the present participle sonāns (“sounding”), from sonāre (“to sound”). The Latin is a calque of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).