Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sonorous \So*no"rous\, a. [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.

   5. (Med.) Sonant; vibrant; hence, of sounds produced in a
      cavity, deep-toned; as, sonorous rhonchi.

   {Sonorous figures} (Physics), figures formed by the
      vibrations of a substance capable of emitting a musical
      tone, as when the bow of a violin is drawn along the edge
      of a piece of glass or metal on which sand is strewed, and
      the sand arranges itself in figures according to the
      musical tone. Called also {acoustic figures}.

   {Sonorous tumor} (Med.), a tumor which emits a clear,
      resonant sound on percussion. -- {So*no"rous*ly}, adv. --
      {So*no"rous*ness}, n.