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

billy

/ˈbɪli/ noun, proper noun

Forms billies Billys Billie

  1. noun A fellow, companion, comrade, mate; partner, brother.
  2. noun (Geordie) A good friend.
  3. noun A billy goat.
  4. noun (UK, slang, obsolete) A silk handkerchief.
  5. noun A highwayman's club, billy club.
  6. noun A slubbing or roving machine.
  7. noun (Australia, New Zealand) A tin with a swing handle used to boil tea over an open fire; a billycan; a billypot. “Let's get the billy and cook some beans.”
  8. noun (Australia, slang) A bong for smoking marijuana.
  9. noun (slang) A condom.
  10. proper noun A diminutive of the male given name William.
  11. proper noun (US, nickname) The B-25 twin-engine bomber aircraft used during World War Two, commonly called the "B-25 Mitchell" in honor of U.S. Army General William "Billy" Mitchell.

Synonyms

truncheon nightstick baton billystick billy club billy goat he-goat

Etymology

Of obscure origin. Perhaps a variant of bully (“companion, mate, comrade”). Compare Scots billie (“a comrade; companion”). Compare also Middle Low German billig (“equitable, reasonable, lawful, fitting, according to natural law, just”).

Uncertain, but probably extracted from Scots billypot (“a type of cooking pot”), perhaps originally from the name Billy, a diminutive of William.
The condom sense from the E-Rotic song Willy, Use a Billy... Boy, referring in turn to Billy Boy, a German brand of condoms.

Diminutive and pet-form; from Bill + -y.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A club; esp., a policeman's club.
  2. noun A slubbing or roving machine.

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