The meaning of ONOMATOPOEIA is the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it : the creation of words that imitate natural sounds (such as buzz, hiss); also : a word formed by onomatopoeia.
Definition: Onomatopoeia (oh-noh-mah-toh-PEE-uh) is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. Simply put, it’s when a word imitates a sound.
Onomatopoeia is when a word’s pronunciation imitates its sound. When you say an onomatopoeic word, the utterance itself is reminiscent of the sound to which the word refers.
Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the “ding dong” of a doorbell are all examples of onomatopoeia. Some additional key details about onomatopoeia:
Onomatopoeia: the word nerd’s playground of sound and sense. These magical little words don’t just look good on the page—they sound like what they mean. From the explosive “Bang!” to the gentle “Murmur,” these words bring noise to the silent realm of text.
Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to (such as hiss or murmur). It can also include made-up words or simply a series of letters, such as zzzzzz to represent a person sleeping or snoring.
Add to word list grammar the naming of something with a word whose sound suggests the thing itself, such as "buzz" and "zip" (Definition of onomatopoeia from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)