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

mum

/mʌm/ noun, adjective, interjection, verb, proper noun

Also a form of ma'am mom

Forms mums mumming mummed mam mom 'mum mumm

  1. noun (UK, Ireland, Canada, New England, South Africa, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, informal) mother
  2. noun (chiefly US) A chrysanthemum.
  3. noun (US, originally Texas) A decoration traditionally made of chrysanthemums and ribbons, worn by girls at high school homecoming celebrations, marked with indicators such as the wearer's name, school, the year, and so on.
  4. adjective (colloquial or archaic, of a person) Silent.
  5. adjective (colloquial) Secret.
  6. interjection stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!
  7. verb To act in a pantomime or dumb show.
  8. verb (transitive, UK, slang, obsolete) To silence.
  9. noun (obsolete) Silence.
  10. noun A type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.
  11. proper noun (informal) One’s mother. “I wish Mum and Dad didn't argue so much.”

Synonyms

Mom Mommy Mother Mummy florist's chrysanthemum florists' chrysanthemum Dendranthema grandifloruom Chrysanthemum morifolium ma mama mamma momma mammy silent

Antonyms

Dad

Etymology

Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.

Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.

From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).

From German Mumme.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Silent; not speaking. Thackeray.
  2. interjection Be silent! Hush! Mum, then, and no more. Shak.
  3. noun Silence. [R.] Hudibras.
  4. noun A sort of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.

Etymology [Of imitative origin. Cf. Mumble.]

Etymology [G. mummere, fr. Christian Mumme, who first brewed it in 1492.]

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