subs. phr. (common).—A word claimed to be in imitation of natural sounds, i.e., onomatopoetic words: a sarcastic coinage of Max Müller’s.
1570. W. LAMBARDE, A Perambulation of Kent, 233. [BAWWAW is used when reference is made to Erasmus comparing the English tongue, abounding in monosyllables, to a dog’s bark—T. L. KINGTON-OLIPHANT, The New English, i, 580.]
