Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

biennial

/baɪˈɛn.i.əl/ adjective, noun

Forms biennials

  1. adjective Happening every two years.
  2. adjective Lasting for two years.
  3. noun A plant that requires two years to complete its life-cycle, germinating and growing in its first year, then producing its flowers and fruit in its second year, after which it usually dies.
  4. noun An event that happens every two years.

Synonyms

biennary biannual two-year biyearly

Antonyms

perennial annual

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin bienni(um) (“two-year period”) [from bis, bi- (“twice”) + annus (“year”)] + -al (suffix forming adjectives). By surface analysis, bi- + -ennial.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Happening, or taking place, once in two years; as, a biennial election.
  2. adjective Continuing for two years, and then perishing, as plants which form roots and leaves the first year, and produce fruit the second.
  3. noun Something which takes place or appears once in two years; esp. a biennial examination.
  4. noun A plant which exists or lasts for two years.

Etymology [L. biennalis and biennis, fr. biennium a space of two years; bis twice + annus year. Cf. Annual.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “biennial”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “biennial” (best matches first).