So*no"rous (?), a. [L. sonorus, fr. sonor, -oris, a sound, akin to sonus a sound. See Sound.]
1.
Giving sound when struck; resonant; as, sonorous metals.
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.
Impressive in sound; high-sounding.
The Italian opera, amidst all the meanness and familiarty 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.
5. Med.
Sonant; vibrant; hence, of sounds produced in a cavity, deep-toned; as, sonorous rhonchi.
Sonorous figures Physics, figures formed by the vibrations of a substance capable of emitting a musical tone, 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. -- Sonorous tumor Med., a tumor which emits a clear, resonant sound on percussion.
-- So*no"rous*ly, adv. -- So*no"rous*ness, n.
© Webster 1913.