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

nocturnal

UK /nɒkˈtɜː.nəl/ · US /nɑkˈtɝ.nəl/ adjective, noun

Forms nocturnals nocturnall

  1. adjective Of a person, creature, group, or species, primarily active during the night. “nocturnal birds”
  2. adjective Of an occurrence, taking place at night, nightly. “a suspicious nocturnal outing”
  3. noun A person or creature that is active at night.
  4. noun (historical) A device for telling the time at night, rather like a sundial but read according to the stars.

Synonyms

lucifugous nightish nightly nighttime star clock

Antonyms

diurnal nonnocturnal

Etymology

From Middle French nocturnal, from Latin nocturnālis (“nocturnal”), from Latin nocturnus (“nocturnal”), from Latin nox (“night”), from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”). Cognates include Ancient Greek νύξ (núx), Sanskrit नक्ति (nákti), Old English niht (English night) and Proto-Slavic *noťь.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Of, pertaining to, done or occuring in, the night; as, nocturnal darkness, cries, expedition, etc.; --opposed to Ant: diurnal.
  2. adjective Having a habit of seeking food or moving about at night; as, nocturnal birds and insects.
  3. noun An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the stars, etc., at sea. I. Watts.

Etymology [L. nocturnalis, nocturnus, fr. nox, noctis, night. See Night, and cf. Nocturn.]

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

Sanskrit

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

All 16 Sanskrit matches →