Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to the throat.
  • adjective Having a harsh grating quality, as certain sounds produced in the back of the mouth.
  • adjective Linguistics Velar.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the throat; formed in or as in the throat: as, the guttural (superior thyroid) artery; a guttural sound; guttural speech.
  • noun A sound or combination of sounds pronounced in the throat, or in the back part of the mouth toward the throat, as k; any guttural sound or utterance.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the throat; formed in the throat; relating to, or characteristic of, a sound formed in the throat.
  • noun A sound formed in the throat; esp., a sound formed by the aid of the back of the tongue, much retracted, and the soft palate; also, a letter representing such a sound.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Sounding harsh and throaty.
  • adjective medicine, anatomy Of, relating to, or connected to the throat.
  • noun A harsh and throaty spoken sound

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat
  • adjective relating to or articulated in the throat
  • adjective like the sounds of frogs and crows

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from New Latin gutturālis, from Latin guttur, throat.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin gutturālis, from Latin guttur ("throat") + -ālis.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word guttural.

Examples

  • The following glossolalic passage, spelled out phonetically, was made from that recording the phonetic symbol “?” refers to a guttural sound made in the back of the esophagus:

    Born to Believe Andrew Newberg 2006

  • The following glossolalic passage, spelled out phonetically, was made from that recording the phonetic symbol “?” refers to a guttural sound made in the back of the esophagus:

    Born to Believe Andrew Newberg 2006

  • The only diacritical marks here employed are the acute accent for stressed syllables and the apostrophe between two vowels to indicate the glottic closure or interruption of sound (improperly sometimes called a guttural) that prevents the two from coalescing.

    Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula Nathaniel Bright Emerson 1877

  • Arabic guttural, which is unknown in the other languages in which Latin roots predominate.

    Handbook of Universal Literature From the Best and Latest Authorities Anne C. Lynch Botta 1853

  • It is not to be doubted, but that in the original pronunciation gh has the force of a consonant deeply guttural, which is still continued among the Scotch.

    A Grammar of the English Tongue Samuel Johnson 1746

  • "The problem both of these horses had involved a disease called guttural pouch mycosis, or a fungal infection in the guttural pouch," said Herb Maisenbacher, an assistant clinical professor of cardiology at the university's veterinary medical centre.

    Horsetalk.co.nz Headlines 2009

  •   Yet, as I inched closer to the house I became sure that only one person ... or thing ... could make those kind of guttural vocalizations.

    Cookie Monster's Harem in the Sky 2010

  • Swiss, does not consist in articulated sounds, nor is it accompanied by words; but is a simple melody formed by a kind of guttural intonation very closely resembling the tones of a flute.

    The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 377, June 27, 1829 Various

  • And turning to his companion he poured a kind of guttural volley at him, which his comrade answered with a brisk return of heavy verbal fire.

    Tom Slade with the Boys Over There Percy Keese Fitzhugh 1913

  • There are birds that send a kind of guttural sound from their throats, such as the cuckoos and occasionally the blue jays.

    Our Bird Comrades 1896

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • That's evocative, WeirdNet, but I'm not sure it's entirely helpful.

    January 8, 2009

  • How nice. WeirdNet writes poetry. Kind of.

    January 8, 2009

  • Guttural words are great for getting out aggression and anger. Just think of many curse words, especially the big one: the f-word. Though I find "duck" is better, with that hard "d" sound at the beginning. ;-)

    March 6, 2009