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

christen

/ˈkɹɪsən/ verb

Forms christens christening christened kersen christian

  1. verb (transitive) To perform the religious rite of baptism upon; to baptize. “The new baby was christened at the village church.”
  2. verb (transitive, by extension) To name. “I christen this ship the Bonny Barnacle.”
  3. verb (obsolete) To Christianize.
  4. verb (colloquial) To use for the first time. “I christened my new boots today with a walk in the snow.”
  5. verb (informal) To douse or wet with blood, urine, tears, or other liquid.

Synonyms

baptize baptise

Etymology

From Middle English cristenen, cristnien, from Old English cristnian (“to christen, baptise”), from cristen (“Christen, Christian”) + -nian. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kristenje (“to christen”), Dutch kerstenen (“to christen”), Middle Low German kristenen, kerstenen, karstenen (“to christen”), Danish kristne (“to christen”), Swedish kristna (“to christen”), Icelandic kristna (“to christen”). By surface analysis, Christ + -en.

From Middle English Cristen, from Old English crīsten (ca. 890), from Latin Christiānus.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To baptize and give a Christian name to.
  2. verb To give a name; to denominate. "Christen the thing what you will." Bp. Burnet.

Etymology [AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian.]

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