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

asbestos

UK /æsˈbɛs.tɒs/ · US /æsˈbɛs.təs/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms asbestoses asbesti asbestosing asbestosed asbestus

  1. noun (mineralogy) Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc. “All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.”
  2. noun (mineralogy) Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals, asbestiforms
  3. noun (colloquial, attributive) The supposed material composing part of the body that is impervious to heat, or by extension other unpleasant sensations; especially hot or spicy food.
  4. verb To coat or line with asbestos.
  5. verb To expose to asbestos; to cause to suffer asbestosis.
  6. verb (figurative) To insulate or buffer.
  7. proper noun Former name of Val des Sources: a town in Asbestos, Estrie, Quebec, Canada.
  8. proper noun Former name of Les Sources: a regional county municipality of Eastern Townships, Quebec, Canada.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Classical Latin asbestos, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄσβεστος (ásbestos), from ἀ- (a-) + σβεστός (sbestós). Compare Middle English asbestus and Old French abestos.

From asbestos, from Old French abestos.
* (Asbestos, Quebec): Named by the Royal Mail for the asbestos mines the mining settlement was setup for, when Canada was still a colony of Britain. The county was named for the town.
* (Asbestos, Russia): English for the Russian term for asbestos, асбест (asbest)

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in long and delicate fibers, or in fibrous masses or seams, usually of a white, gray, or green-gray color. The name is also given to a similar variety of serpentine.

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