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

hocus-pocus

UK /ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/ · US /ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/ interjection, noun, verb

Forms hocus-pocuses hocus-pocusses hoci-poci hocuses-pocuses hocusses-pocusses hocus-pocusing hocus-pocussing hocusing-pocusing hocussing-pocussing hocus-pocused hocus-pocussed hocused-pocused hocussed-pocussed hocus pocus hocus and pocus hocuspocus

  1. interjection A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
  2. noun (uncountable) Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense.
  3. noun (uncountable, derogatory) Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo.
  4. noun (countable, uncountable, chiefly US, also attributively) Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery.
  5. noun (countable, obsolete) A conjurer.
  6. noun (countable, obsolete) A conjurer's trick.
  7. verb (ambitransitive, colloquial, dated) To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive.

Synonyms

alakazam shazam abracadabra hey pass hey presto kazaam presto presto chango shablam legerdemain prestigiation sleight of hand conjuration conjuring dweomercraft illusionism jugglery magic palmistry prestidigitation trickery slickness hanky panky jiggery-pokery skulduggery skullduggery

Etymology

Pseudo-Latinism. The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted.
The verb is derived from the noun.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A term used by jugglers in pretended incantations.
  2. noun A juggler or trickster. Sir T. Herbert.
  3. verb To cheat. [Colloq.] L'Estrange.

Etymology [Prob. invented by jugglers in imitation of Latin. Cf. Hoax, Hocus .]

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