From Richard Nordquist,
Your Guide to Grammar & Composition.
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Definition:

A figure of speech in which consonant sounds at the beginning of words are repeated.

Etymology:

From the Latin, "putting letters together"

Examples and Observations:

• "In a somer seson, whan soft was the sonne,
  I shope me into shroudes, as I a shepe were"
  (William Langland, Piers Plowman, 14th century)



• "Father is rather vulgar, my dear. The word Papa, besides, gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism, are all very good words for the lips: especially prunes and prism."
  (Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit)



• "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
  (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)



• "A moist young moon hung above the mist of a neighboring meadow."
  (Vladimir Nabokov, Conclusive Evidence)



• "Guinness is good for you."
  (advertising slogan)



• "Progression is not proclamation nor palaver. It is not pretense nor play on prejudice. It is not of personal pronouns, nor perennial pronouncement. It is not the perturbation of a people passion-wrought, nor a promise proposed."
  (Warren G. Harding)



• "Who often, but without success, have prayed for apt Alliteration's artful aid."
  (Charles Churchill)



• "The daily diary of the American dream."
  (advertising slogan for The Wall Street Journal)



• "What we want is Watneys."
  (advertising slogan for Watney's beer)



• "My style is public negotiations for parity, rather than private negotiations for position."
  (Jesse Jackson)



• "Forget the most obvious problem with collegiate calorie counting, that studying Kierkegaard or Conrad after a dinner of seitan and soy chips would render even robust stomachs seasick, sometimes outright ill. And I won’t harp on the clear link between vigorous salad consumption and sulkiness."
  (Marisha Pessl, "Seize the Weight," The New York Times, October 6, 2006)

Pronunciation: ah-lit-err-RAY-shun