It sounds like a medical term, or the name of a South African cactus plant, but it describes words in English whose spoken sound is the same as the actual sound. For example, the words "buzz", "hum", "pop" and "hiss" are onomatopoeic words.
Can you suggest any more?
Replies
Purring cat...
The use of words (such as hiss or murmur) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks.