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

Babylon

UK /ˈbæb.ɪ.lɒn/ · US /ˈbæb.ɪ.lɑn/ proper noun, noun

Forms babylons

  1. proper noun (historical) An ancient city, the ancient capital of Babylonia in modern Iraq, built on the banks of the Euphrates.
  2. proper noun A governate in Iraq.
  3. proper noun Any city of great wealth, luxury and vice.
  4. proper noun (Rastafari) Western civilization, seen as corrupt and materialistic, and contrasted with Zion.
  5. proper noun (Jamaica, MLE) The police.
  6. proper noun An unincorporated community in Fulton County, Illinois, United States.
  7. proper noun A town and village therein, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States.
  8. proper noun A surname.
  9. noun (UK, slang, countable) A female breast.

Synonyms

police

Etymology

Partially inherited from Old English Babilōn/Babȳlōn, partially from Latin Babylōn, from Ancient Greek Βαβυλών (Babulṓn), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim, literally “Gate of God”); the name of the ancient Chaldean capital and Biblical city of the Apocalypse. Doublet of Babel.

Instantiation of Babylon, popularized by Sacha Baron Cohen in his satirical television show Da Ali G Show (2000–2004).

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “Babylon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details