'assonance' originates from Middle French, specifically the word 'assonance', ultimately from Latin elements 'ad-' + 'sonare' where 'ad-' meant 'to' and 'sonare' meant 'to sound'.

'assonance' changed from Latin 'adsonare'/'assonare' to Old/Middle French 'assonance' and eventually became the modern English word 'assonance'.

Initially it meant 'agreement or correspondence in sound', but over time it evolved into its current specialized meaning of 'repetition of vowel sounds (especially in poetry)'.