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

missionary

UK /ˈmɪʃ.ən(ə).ɹɪ/ · US /ˈmɪʃ.əˌnɛɹ.ɪ/ noun, adjective

Forms missionaries

  1. noun One who is sent on a mission.
  2. noun (religion) A person who travels attempting to spread a religion or creed (Particularly used in context of Christianity). “A missionary was just trying to convert me to his religion.”
  3. noun (derogatory) A religious messenger.
  4. noun (uncountable) The missionary position for sexual intercourse. “My boyfriend only cums during missionary.”
  5. noun (uncountable, slang) Sexual intercourse in the missionary position.
  6. adjective Relating to a (religious) mission.

Synonyms

emissary missioner missional

Etymology

Cf. F. missionnaire. See Mission, n.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun One who is sent on a mission; especially, one sent to propagate religion. Swift. Missionary apostolic, a Roman Catholic missionary sent by commission from the pope.
  2. adjective Of or pertaining to missions; as, a missionary meeting; a missionary fund.

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