Hypertext Webster Gateway: "onomatopoeia"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Onomatopoeia \On`o*mat`o*p[oe]"ia\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; ?, ?, a
name + ? 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.
Note: It has been maintained by some philologist that all
primary words, especially names, were formed by
imitation of natural sounds.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
onomatopoeia
n : using words that imitate the sound they denote
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