vowel

IPA/ˈvaʊəl/
KK[vˈaʊəl]IPA/ˈvaʊəl/

vowel — noun

  • vowelsingular
  • vowelsplural

1. a human speech sound that you create by opening your mouth so air can exit freel

1.nounA2
Definition

a human speech sound that you create by opening your mouth so air can exit freely, as nothing in the mouth blocks the flow

Example

The vowel sound in 'hat' differs from the one in 'hot', though both are short.

short vowels: 'hat' vs 'hot'

Obi's language teacher asked the class to hold each vowel sound for two seconds.

practicing vowel sound duration

Common collocations
  • vowel sound
  • long vowel
  • short vowel
  • stressed vowel
  • front vowel
  • back vowel
Synonyms
  • vowel sound

    more explicit, used to distinguish the sound from the written letter

  • monophthong

    technical term for a pure vowel with one stable quality; C2 vocabulary

Antonyms
  • consonant

    a speech sound made by blocking or restricting airflow

Usage Note

Frequently used in phonetics and language-learning contexts. Vowels are classified by tongue height (high/mid/low), tongue position (front/central/back), and lip rounding.

Common Mistakes

There are five vowels in English.
English has five vowel letters but around twenty vowel sounds.
Learners often confuse vowel sounds with vowel letters.

2. a written character used to represent a spoken vowel, such as the English letter

2.nounA2
Definition

a written character used to represent a spoken vowel, such as the English letters A, E, and I along with O, U, and occasionally Y

Example

Minho underlined the vowel letter in each word during his spelling quiz at school.

finding vowel letters in spelling practice

Jude listed the five vowel letters on his whiteboard — A, E, I, O, and U.

the five vowel letters

Common collocations
  • vowel letter
  • vowel symbol
  • silent vowel letter
  • double vowel
Synonyms
  • vowel letter

    explicit term that avoids confusion with vowel sounds

  • vowel symbol

    more technical; can include diacritics or phonetic symbols

Antonyms

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense refers to the written symbol, not the acoustic sound. In English, Y is considered a vowel letter only when it represents a vowel sound (e.g., 'myth', 'gym'), not a consonant sound (e.g., 'yes', 'yellow').

Common Mistakes

The letter W is sometimes a vowel.
Only Y is sometimes treated as a vowel letter in English, as in 'rhythm'.
W is never a vowel letter in standard English, though some learners confuse it with languages where W has vowel-like uses.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Vowel is the general everyday term for any open speech sound produced without blocking the airflow. Vowel sound is a more explicit expression, often used to distinguish the acoustic sound from the written letter (e.g., 'the vowel sound in "cake" is actually a diphthong'). Monophthong (C2) is a technical label for a pure vowel whose quality stays constant throughout, such as the /iː/ in 'see'. Diphthong (C1) describes a vowel sound where the tongue glides from one position to another within a single syllable, like the /aɪ/ in 'time'. In everyday English lessons, teachers say 'vowel' for both concepts. For a learner at A2–B1 level, mastering the basic vowel–consonant contrast is far more practical than memorising these technical categories.

vowel ↗vowel soundmonophthong ↗diphthong

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • vowel sound
  • vowel letter
  • vowel shift
  • vowel harmony

Adjectives

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

From Latin 'vocalis', meaning 'vocal' or 'speaking', which comes from 'vox' (voice). The word travelled into English through Old French 'vouele'. In Latin grammar, a 'vocalis littera' was a letter that could be pronounced by itself, unlike a consonant which needed a vowel next to it to be sounded.