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

kit

/ˈkɪt/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms kits kitting kitted

  1. noun A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.
  2. noun A kind of basket made especially from straw of rushes, especially for holding fish; by extension, the contents of such a basket or similar container, used as a measure of weight.
  3. noun A collection of items forming the equipment of a soldier, carried in a knapsack.
  4. noun Any collection of items needed for a specific purpose, especially for use by a workman, or personal effects packed for travelling. “Always carry a good first-aid kit.”
  5. noun A collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble. “I built the entire car from a kit.”
  6. noun (UK, sports) The standard set of clothing, accessories and equipment worn by players.
  7. noun (UK, informal) Clothing. “Get your kit off and come to bed.”
  8. noun (computing, informal) A full software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade.
  9. verb (transitive) To assemble or collect something into kits. “We need to kit the parts for the assembly by Friday, so that manufacturing can build the tool.”
  10. verb (transitive) To equip (somebody) with something.
  11. noun A kitten (young cat).
  12. noun (by extension) A cat in general.
  13. noun A kit fox (Vulpes macrotis).
  14. noun A young fox.
  15. noun A young beaver.
  16. noun A young ferret.
  17. noun A young skunk.
  18. noun A young rabbit.
  19. noun Synonym of kit violin.
  20. noun (collective) A flock of pigeons, especially domesticated, trained pigeons and especially when flying together.

Synonyms

kit out kit up kit violin outfit

Etymology

From Middle English kyt, kytt, kytte, from Middle Dutch kitte (“a wooden vessel made of hooped staves”). Related to Dutch kit (“tankard”) (see below). The further etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-, which would be related to the root of Dutch kot (“ramshackle house”), itself of non-Indo-European origin.
The transfer of meaning to the contents of a soldier's knapsack dates to the late 18th century, extended use of any collection of necessaries used for travelling dates to the first half of the 19th century.
The further widening of the sense to a collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble emerges in American English in the mid 20th century.

[Alt: A young red fox emerging from a burrow, looking at the camera]
A short form of kitten or kitling. From the 16th century, spelled kytte, kitt. From the 19th century also extended to other young animals (beaver, fox, mink, muskrat, etc.), and to a species of small fox (kit fox). Later usage (for other animals) perhaps influenced by chit.

16th century, perhaps from cithara.

Borrowed from German kitte, Kütte (“flock of doves”) (circa 1880).

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To cut. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  2. noun A kitten. Kit fox (Zoöl.), a small burrowing fox (Vulpes velox), inhabiting the region of the Rocky Mountains. It is brownish gray, reddish on the breast and flanks, and white below. Called also swift fox.
  3. noun A small violin. "A dancing master's kit." Grew.
  4. A large bottle.

Etymology [See Kitten.]

Etymology [Gf. AS. cytere harp, L. cithara. Cf. Guitar.]

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