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

byzantine

UK /bɪˈzæntaɪn/ · US /ˈbɪzəntiːn/ noun, adjective

Forms byzantines Byzantian Byzantinan Bizantian Bizantine

  1. noun (historical) A byzant (coin).
  2. adjective Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
  3. adjective (history) Belonging to the civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire between 331, when its capital was moved to Constantinople, and 1453, when that capital was conquered by the Turks and ultimately renamed Istanbul.
  4. adjective (architecture) Of a style of architecture prevalent in the Eastern Empire down to 1453, marked by the round arch springing from columns or piers, the dome supported upon pendentives, capitals elaborately sculptured, mosaic or other encrustations, etc.
  5. adjective (figurative, often lower-case) Overly complex or intricate, especially of bureaucracy. “a Byzantine system of regulations”
  6. adjective (figurative, often lower-case) Rigid, unceasing, inflexible.
  7. adjective (figurative, often lower-case) Devious and stealthy.
  8. adjective (Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism) Of or relating to the Byzantine Rite or any of the many Eastern Orthodox churches and Greek Catholic churches that use this rite for their liturgical celebrations.
  9. noun (historical) A native of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul) or of the Byzantine empire
  10. noun A dark, metallic shade of violet.

Synonyms

Byzantiac convoluted involved knotty tangled tortuous

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bȳzantīnus, from Bȳzantium, from Ancient Greek Βυζάντιον (Buzántion). The figurative senses evoke the reputation for palace intrigue of the Byzantine imperial court.

Webster’s 1913

  1. A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium. See Bezant.
  2. adjective Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
  3. adjective A native or inhabitant of Byzantium, now Constantinople; sometimes, applied to an inhabitant of the modern city of Constantinople. [ Written also Bizantine.] Byzantine church, the Eastern or Greek church, as distinguished from the Western or Roman or Latin church.See under Greek.

Etymology [OE. besant, besaunt, F. besant, fr. LL. Byzantius, Byzantinus, fr. Byzantium.]

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