1. A word or sound that imitates or represents an idea, action, or quality through its phonetic form, often used in linguistics and literary description.
Usage: linguistics term; common in African and Asian languages; used in literary and descriptive writing

Examples

• The word 'buzz' is an ideophone that mimics the sound of bees.
• In Zulu, ideophones are used to vividly describe movements and sensations.
• The author used ideophones like 'splash' and 'crackle' to bring the scene to life.
• Linguists study ideophones to understand how languages represent sensory experiences.
• The ideophone 'whoosh' captures the sensation of rapid movement through air.