- a speech sound that by itself makes a syllable or subordinates to itself the other sounds in the syllable; a syllabic sound (opposed to consonant).
- a voiced sound (opposed to surd).
- (in Indo-European) a sonorant.
- denoting a voiced sound capable of forming a syllable or syllable nucleus
- inherently possessing, exhibiting, or producing a sound
- a voiced sound belonging to the class of frictionless continuants or nasals (l, r, m, n, ŋ) considered from the point of view of being a vowel and, in this capacity, able to form a syllable or syllable nucleus
