onomatopœia

CIDE DICTIONARY

onomatopœia, n. [L., fr. Gr. ; 'o`noma, 'ono`matos, a name + poiei^n to make.].

 The formation of words in imitation of sounds; a figure of speech in which the sound of a word is imitative of the sound of the thing which the word represents; as, the buzz of bees; the hiss of a goose; the crackle of fire.  [1913 Webster]
" It has been maintained by some philologist that all primary words, especially names, were formed by imitation of natural sounds, but this is not believed by most."  [1913 Webster]