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

penitentiary

/ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/ noun, adjective

Forms penitentiaries

  1. noun (chiefly US) A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.
  2. noun A priest in the Roman Catholic Church who administers the sacrament of penance.
  3. noun (obsolete) One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance.
  4. noun (obsolete) One who does penance.
  5. noun (obsolete) A small building in a monastery, or a part of a church, where penitents confessed.
  6. noun (obsolete) An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc.; run by a cardinal called the Grand Penitentiary who is appointed by the pope.
  7. noun (obsolete) An officer in some dioceses since 1215, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases reserved to him.
  8. adjective Of or relating to penance; penitential.
  9. adjective Of or relating to the punishment of criminals.

Synonyms

pen penal punishmental penary penitential

Etymology

From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (“place of penitence”), from Latin paenitentia (“penitence”), term used by the Quakers in Pennsylvania during the 1790s, describing a place for penitents to dwell upon their sins.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Relating to penance, or to the rules and measures of penance. "A penitentiary tax." Abp. Bramhall.
  2. adjective Expressive of penitence; as, a penitentiary letter.
  3. noun One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance. [Obs.]
  4. noun One who does penance. [Obs.] Hammond.

Etymology [Cf. F. pénitentiaire.]

Etymology [Cf. F. pénitencier. See Penitent.]

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