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

valance

/ˈvæləns/ noun

Forms valances valaunce valence vallance

  1. noun A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.
  2. noun A decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism and so on at the top of a window.
  3. noun A short, decorative edging of cloth that hangs from a bed, from beneath the mattress to the floor, used to conceal the box spring or space under the bed and prevent dust from accumulating there.
  4. noun A short, decorative edging of cloth that conceals the legs of a couch, sofa, etc.
  5. noun (automotive) A low-hanging auto body panel, below a front or rear bumper, whose purpose is aerodynamic and decorative but not structural (often valance panel).
  6. noun The drooping edging of the lid of a trunk, which covers the joint when the lid is closed.

Synonyms

dust ruffle bedskirt bed ruffle cornice valance board pelmet

Etymology

From Middle English valance, valans, valaunce, valence, valons. Origin uncertain. Probably from Anglo-Norman valaunce, valence, from valer (“go down, let down”), aphetic form of Old French avaler (“to descend, go down”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Hanging drapery for a bed, couch, window, or the like, especially that which hangs around a bedstead, from the bed to the floor.
  2. noun The drooping edging of the lid of a trunk. which covers the joint when the lid is closed.
  3. verb To furnish with a valance; to decorate with hangings or drapery.

Etymology [Perhaps fr. OF. avalant descending, hanging down, p. pr. of avaler to go down, let down, descent (cf. Avalanche); but probably from the town of Valence in France.]

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