Definition of schwa
1
: an unstressed mid-central vowel (such as the usual sound of the first and last vowels of the English word America)
2
: the symbol ə used for the schwa sound and less widely for a similarly articulated stressed vowel (as in cut)
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for schwa
The first known use of schwa was in 1895
See more words from the same year