Webster's English Dictionary

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vowel

vow.el \'vau.(-*)l\ n [ME, fr. MF vouel, fr. L vocalis - more at VOCALIC] 
   1: one of a class of speech sounds in the articulation of which the oral pa 
   rt of the breath channel is not blocked and is not constricted enough to 
   cause audible friction; broadly : the one most prominent sound in a 
   syllable 2: a letter or other symbol representing a vowel - usu. used in 
   English o f a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y