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

halcyon

/ˈhælsi.ən/ noun, adjective

Forms halcyons alcyon

  1. noun (poetic) A kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
  2. noun The dead body of such a bird, said in Tudor times to act as a weather vane when hung from a beam.
  3. noun A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.
  4. adjective Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
  5. adjective (figurative) Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene.

Synonyms

at peace blissful calm peaceful prelapsarian relaxed serene faint hushed low thin muffled piano quiet quiet as a grave quiet as a mouse quiet as a church mouse soft still stifled Alcyone genus Halcyon golden prosperous

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Alceoun, from Latin halcyōn, alcyōn (“kingfisher”), from Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A kingfisher. By modern ornithologists restricted to a genus including a limited number of species having omnivorous habits, as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.
  2. adjective Pertaining to, or resembling, the halcyon, which was anciently said to lay her eggs in nests on or near the sea during the calm weather about the winter solstice.
  3. adjective Hence: Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy. "Deep, halcyon repose." De Quincy.

Etymology [L. halcyon, alcyon, Gr.halcyon.]

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

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “halcyon” (best matches first).