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

hydra

/ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/ noun, proper noun

Forms hydras hydrae hydræ

  1. noun (fantasy) A dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
  2. noun (biology) Any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles.
  3. noun (figurative) A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be easily and rapidly solved.
  4. proper noun (Greek mythology) A mythological serpent with many heads, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours.
  5. proper noun (astronomy) A spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a serpent. It lies just south of the zodiac and contains the star Alphard.
  6. proper noun (astronomy) One of Pluto's moons.
  7. proper noun One of the Saronic Islands in the Aegean Sea.
  8. proper noun (geography) A commune in Algiers Province, Algeria.

Synonyms

Lernaean Hydra Xiangliu Xiangyao Pluto II S 2005 P 1 Pluto II Hydra Snake

Etymology

After the Hydra, from Greek mythology, which grew two new heads every time one of its heads was cut off. The biology sense alludes to the budding method of asexual reproduction that the hydra practices, similar to growing new heads. The figurative sense refers to how the creature could not be killed by a swift, decisive solution (in contrast to a Gordian knot).

From Latin Hydra, the mythical serpent, originally from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra), from Proto-Indo-European *údreh₂ (“aquatic”). Doublet of otter.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in the Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, was immediately succeeded by two others, unless the wound was cauterized. It was slain by Hercules. Hence, a terrible monster.
  2. noun Hence: A multifarious evil, or an evil having many sources; not to be overcome by a single effort.

Etymology [L. hydra, Gr. "y`dra; akin to "y`dwr water. See Otter the animal, Water.]

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