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

courtesan

/kɔːtɪˈzæn/ noun

Forms courtesans courtezan

  1. noun A female prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients.
  2. noun (dated) The mistress of a royal or noble.
  3. noun (archaic) A woman of a royal or noble court.
  4. noun (chess) A fairy chess piece that can move to any adjacent square, that, when captured, the capturing piece is also eliminated.

Synonyms

abandons alley cat almah bangtail Bankside lady bargirl bat beotch blouze blowen blowsabella brass nail brasser brass broad business girl calico queen callet cat chippy concubine doxy paramour

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French courtisane, from Italian cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano (“courtier”), from corte (“court”), itself from Latin cohors.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute; a harlot.

Etymology [F. courtisane, fr. courtisan courtier, It. cortigiano; or directly fr. It. cortigiana, or Sp. cortesana. See Court.]

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