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

bedlam

/ˈbɛdləm/ noun, proper noun

Forms bedlams

  1. noun A place or situation of chaotic uproar, and where confusion prevails.
  2. noun (obsolete) An insane person; a lunatic; a madman.
  3. noun (obsolete) A lunatic asylum; a madhouse.
  4. proper noun A hamlet in Clint cum Hamlets parish, Harrogate borough, North Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE2661).
  5. proper noun A hamlet in Bitterley parish, south Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SO5877).
  6. proper noun A hamlet in Great Elm parish, Mendip district, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST7549).
  7. proper noun (informal) Bethlem Royal Hospital, a famous psychiatric hospital, now located in Bromley, South London.

Synonyms

madhouse pandemonium chaos topsy-turvydom topsy-turvyness booby hatch crazy house cuckoo's nest funny farm funny house loony bin nut house nuthouse sanatorium snake pit

Etymology

From Bedlam, alternative name of the English lunatic asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital (royal hospital from 1375, mental hospital from 1403) (earlier St Mary of Bethlehem outside Bishopsgate, hospice in existence from 1329, priory established 1247), since used to mean “a place or situation of madness and chaos”. Bedlam as name of hospital attested 1450.
Phonologically, corruption of Bethlem, itself a corruption of Bethlehem (the Biblical town), from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém) from Biblical Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bêṯ leḥem, literally “house of bread”).
However, also compare Spanish belén (“confusion, disorder; a place characteristic of such”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A place appropriated to the confinement and care of the insane; a madhouse. Abp. Tillotson.
  2. noun An insane person; a lunatic; a madman. [Obs.]
  3. adjective Belonging to, or fit for, a madhouse. "The bedlam, brainsick duchess." Shak.

Etymology [See Bethlehem.]

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