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

vestal

/ˈvɛs.t(ə)l/ adjective, noun, proper noun

Forms vestals

  1. adjective Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth.
  2. adjective Pure; chaste.
  3. noun A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar; a vestal virgin.
  4. noun A female virgin; a woman who has never had sexual relations.
  5. noun A nun.
  6. adjective (astronomy) Synonym of Vestan (Pertaining to the asteroid Vesta)
  7. proper noun A surname.
  8. proper noun A town in Broome County, New York, United States.

Synonyms

Vestan pure virgin virginal virtuous

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Vestālis.

From Vesta + -al.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste.
  2. noun A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her altar.
  3. noun A virgin; a woman pure and chaste; also, a nun. How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! Pope.

Etymology [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.]

Etymology [L. Vestalis (sc. virgo): cf. F. vestale. See Vestal, a.]

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