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

ability

/əˈbɪl.ə.ti/ noun

Forms abilities abilitie hability habilitie

  1. noun (obsolete) Suitableness.
  2. noun (uncountable) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power. “This phone has the ability to have its software upgraded wirelessly.”
  3. noun The legal wherewithal to act.
  4. noun (now limited to Scotland dialects) Physical power.
  5. noun (archaic) Financial ability.
  6. noun (uncountable) A unique power of the mind; a faculty.
  7. noun (countable) A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude. “a mixed-ability class”

Synonyms

capacity faculty capability talent cleverness dexterity aptitude aptness skill power

Antonyms

inability unability disability

Etymology

First attested in the 1300s. From Middle English abilite (“suitability, aptitude, ability”), from Old French ableté, from Latin habilitās (“aptness, ability”), from habilis (“apt, fit, skillful, able”); equivalent to able + -ity.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun The quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; --in the plural, faculty, talent.

Etymology [F. habileté, earlier spelling habilité (with silent h), L. habilitas aptitude, ability, fr. habilis apt. See Able.]

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

Sanskrit

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

All 40 Sanskrit matches →