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

prestidigitation

UK /ˌpɹɛstɪˌdɪd͡ʒɪˈteɪʃən/ · US /ˌpɹɛstəˌdɪd͡ʒɪˈteɪʃən/ noun

Forms prestidigitations

  1. noun A performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands. “My favorite prestidigitation was when he pulled the live dove out of that tiny scarf.”
  2. noun (by extension) A show of skill or deceitful cleverness. “His writing was peppered with verbal tricks and prestidigitation.”

Synonyms

sleight of hand legerdemain deception imposition hype deceit dupery fiddle fetch hocus-pocus jugglery list mislead Punic faith rinky-dink ruse subterfuge swack trickery conjuration

Etymology

From French prestidigitation, from French preste (“nimble, quick”) + Latin digitus (“finger”) + French -ation (process suffix). The word has a different origin from prestige, even though this in the past has meant “delusion, illusion, trick”.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Legerdemain; sleight of hand; juggling.

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