Etymograph

English

consonance

Consonance comes from Latin cōnsonāns ‘agreeing, fit, suitable’, from cōnsonō ‘to resound’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-1‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyeti1reconstructediterative present of *swenh₂-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaō1‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonō2‘sound, resound’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnsonō3‘to resound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnsonāns4as cōnsonantia‘agreeing, fit, suitable’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600consonance4
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500consonance4
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1865consonance4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin consono
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin consonans
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English consonance
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1865, John Tyndall, On Radiation: The "Rede" Lecture: “Like a musical string, the optic nerve responds to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-Wiktionary, Latin sono‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyetiWiktionary, Latin sonoreconstructediterative present of *swenh₂-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaōWiktionary, Latin sono‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonōWiktionary, Latin consono‘sound, resound’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnsonōWiktionary, Latin consonans‘to resound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnsonānsWiktionary, English consonanceas cōnsonantia‘agreeing, fit, suitable’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600consonanceWiktionary, English consonance
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500consonanceWiktionary, English consonance
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1865consonanceWiktionary, English consonance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1865, John Tyndall, On Radiation: The "Rede" Lecture: “Like a musical string, the optic nerve responds to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound, resound’

sound, swan, unison, sonnet, sone, 10 more

through Proto-Italic *swonaō ‘to sound, resound’

impersonal, 6 more

through Latin sonō ‘sound, resound’

re, personal, personnel, resonance, resonate, resonant, parson, resound, sonorous, 7 more

Today it means

noun A form of rhyme having the same consonants but different vowels.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “consonance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin sono, Latin consono, Latin consonans. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- / consonance

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