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

legerdemain

UK /ˌlɛd͡ʒ.ə.dɨˈmeɪn/ · US /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.əɹ.dəˌmeɪn/ noun

Forms legerdemains

  1. noun Sleight of hand; "magic" trickery.
  2. noun (by extension) A show of skill or deceitful ability.

Synonyms

prestidigitation sleight of hand conjuration conjuring dweomercraft hocus-pocus illusionism jugglery magic palmistry prestigiation deception imposition hype deceit dupery fiddle fetch list mislead magic trick conjuring trick trick thaumaturgy illusion

Etymology

From Middle English legerdemeyn, lechardemane, from Old French léger de main (literally “light of hand”), a phrase that meant “dexterous, skillful at fooling others (especially through sleights of hand)”, which was however treated as a noun when it was borrowed by late Middle English. The Modern French descendant léger de main of the Old French phrase is archaic but still sometimes found in older literature and simply means “skillful” without any connotation of sleight of hand.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Sleight of hand; a trick of sleight of hand; hence, any artful deception or trick.

Etymology [F. léger light, nimble + de of + main hand, L. manus. See 3d Leger, and Manual.]

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

Sanskrit

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