Defn: Pertaining to or designating the arid division of the Austral zone, including the warmer parts of the western United States and central Mexico. It is divided into the Upper Sonoran, which lies next to the Transition zone, and the Lower Sonoran, next to the Tropical.
SONORIFIC
Son`o*rif"ic, a. Etym: [L. sonor, -oris, a sound + facere to make.
See Sonorous.]
Defn: Producing sound; as, the sonorific quality of a body. [R.] I.
Watts.
SONORITY
So*nor"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. sonoritas.]
Defn: The quality or state of being sonorous; sonorousness.
SONOROUS So*no"rous, a. Etym: [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.