ˈkän(t)s(ə)nən(t)s noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin consonantia, from consonant-, consonans + -ia -y
1. : harmony of parts : pleasing, desired, or logical agreement among components
consonance of thought and expression
the literary conceptions which prevailed were in consonance with the social structure — V.F.Calverton
she spoke with an angry … vehemence that was strangely out of consonance with her ordinary serenity of demeanor — William Black
2.
a. : correspondence of sounds : recurrence of like or similar sounds : accord
a pleasing consonance among final syllables
— compare assonance
b. : a combination of musical tones felt as satisfying and restful ; specifically : an interval included in a major or minor triad and its inversions — compare dissonance
c. : sympathetic vibration : resonance — used by some to distinguish the sympathetic vibration of independent things (as two musical strings or two electric circuits) from resonance
d. : recurrence or repetition of identical or similar consonants ; specifically : correspondence of consonants alone unaccompanied by like correspondence of vowels at the ends of two or more syllables, words, or other units of composition — called also consonant-rhyme ; compare alliteration , assonance