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

abbess

/ˈæb.ɪs/ noun

Forms abbesses abbatess abbotess

  1. noun A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. “The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.”
  2. noun (archaic, British slang) A woman who runs a brothel; a woman employed by a prostitute to find clients.

Synonyms

mother superior bawd Covent Garden abbess lady abbess madam prioress

Etymology

From Middle English abbesse, from Old French abeesse (French abbesse), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbatissa, feminine of Latin abbas, abbatis (“abbot”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey.

Etymology [OF.abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L. abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot.]

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