So-nō'rous, a.

(118), a. [Lat. sonorus, from sonor, sonoris, a sound, from sonare, to sound; It. & Sp. sonoro, Fr. sonore.]

1. Giving sound when struck; as, metals are sonorous bodies.
2. Loud-sounding; giving a clear or loud sound; as, a sonorous voice.
3. Yielding sound; characterized by sound; vocal; sonant; as, the vowels are sonorous.
4. High-sounding; magnificent in respect of sound.

The Italian opera, amidst all the meanness and familiarity of the thoughts, has something beautiful and sonorous in the expression. Addison. There is nothing of the artificial Johnsonian balance in his style. It is as often marked by a pregnant brevity as by a sonorous amplitude. E. Everett. Sonorous figures, figures formed by the vibrations produced by sound, as when the bow of a violin is drawn along the edge of a piece of glass or metal on which sand is strewed, and the sand arranges itself in figures according to the musical tone;—called also acoustic figures.