Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings
Vowels
| iː | see | ɪ | sit | e / ɛ | bed | æ | cat |
| ɑː | father | ɒ | hot (UK) | ɔː | law | ʊ | put |
| uː | too | ʌ | cup | ɜː | bird | ə | about |
| eɪ | day | aɪ | my | ɔɪ | boy | aʊ | now |
| əʊ / oʊ | go (UK / US) | ɪə | near | eə | hair | ʊə | tour |
Consonants that look unusual
| θ | thin | ð | this | ʃ | she | ʒ | measure |
| tʃ | church | dʒ | judge | ŋ | sing | j | yes |
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
K 1,237 entries
Page 1 of 7: k – katharevusa
- k numeral, noun, interjectionThe eleventh numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called kay and written in the Latin script.
- K ration nounAlternative form of K-ration.
- k-lor nounsalt of potassium (KCl) (trade names K-Dur 20, Kaochlor and K-lor and Klorvess and K-lyte); taken in tablet form to treat potassium deficie…
- k-lyte nounsalt of potassium (KCl) (trade names K-Dur 20, Kaochlor and K-lor and Klorvess and K-lyte); taken in tablet form to treat potassium deficie…
- K-meson noun(physics) Synonym of kaon.
- k.e. nounthe mechanical energy that a body has by virtue of its motion
- K2 proper nounA mountain on the border between Pakistan and Taxkorgan, Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang, China, the world’s second highest mountain, located …
- ka noun, verb(Egyptian mythology) The aspect of a person’s soul or being that sustains their existence, roughly the life-force, sometimes pictured as a …
- Kaaba proper noun(Islam) The nearly cubical stone temple in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam and site of the great hajj assembly.
- kabala proper nounA surname.
- kabbala proper nounAlternative spelling of Kabbalah.
- kabbalah proper noun(Judaism) A body of mystical Jewish teachings based on an esoteric reading of the Hebrew scriptures.
- kabbalism nounAlternative form of cabalism.
- kabbalist nounOne who studies Kabbalah.
- kabbalistic adjectiveAlternative spelling of cabalistic.
- kabob noun, verbUS spelling of kebab.
- kabolin nounan androgen (trade names Durabolin or Kabolin) that is used to treat testosterone deficiency or breast cancer or osteoporosis
- Kabul proper nounThe capital and largest city of Afghanistan.
- kach nouna terrorist organization founded for Jewish defense; fights antisemitism and hopes to restore the biblical state of Israel
- kachaturian nounArmenian composer who incorporated oriental folk music (1903-1978)
- Kachin noun, proper nounAny of a number of non-Burman ethnolinguistic groups in Kachin State, Burma, including the Jingpho people.
- kachina nounA vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic spirit being, associated with clouds and rain or personifying the power in the sun, the earth, or corn …
- kachinic nounTibeto-Burman languages spoken in northernmost Burma and adjacent China and India
- kadai nounSynonym of karahi (“cooking vessel”).
- kadikoy nouna former town on the Bosporus (now part of Istanbul); site of the Council of Chalcedon
- kaffir noun(countable, offensive) In Islamic contexts, a non-Muslim.
- kaffir bread nounThe pith of various species of Encephalartos.
- kaffir corn nounSorghum cultivars (Sorghum bicolor vars.), used as a food for people and animals and in ethanol production.
- kaffiyeh nounAlternative spelling of keffiyeh.
- kafir noun, proper noun(Islam, countable, offensive, religious slur, politics) A disbeliever, a denier: someone who rejects or disbelieves in Allah or the tenets …
- kafir corn nounAlternative form of kaffir corn.
- kafiri nouna Dardic language spoken by the Kafir in northeastern Afghanistan
- Kafka proper nounA surname from German.
- Kafkaesque adjectiveMarked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity.
- kafocin nounantibiotic related to cephalosporin but no longer in common use
- kaftan nounA long tunic worn in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- kahikatea nounDacrycarpus dacrydioides, a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand.
- Kahlúa proper nounA brand of heavy, sweet, coffee flavored liqueur made in Mexico; a variety or serving of this drink.
- Kahn proper nounA surname from German.
- Kahoolawe proper nounAn uninhabited island, the smallest of the main 8 islands of Hawaii in the United States.
- kail noun, proper noun(Scotland, archaic) Any cabbage, greens, or vegetables.
- kainite noun(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium sulphate and potassium chloride with the chemical formula MgSO₄·KCl·3H₂O, found in Germa…
- kainogenesis nounAlternative form of caenogenesis.
- kaiser noun, proper nounAn emperor of a German-speaking country, particularly the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary (1806–1918), or…
- kaiser roll nounA typically crusty round bread roll supposedly invented in Vienna, made from flour, barm, malt, water, and salt, and whose characteristic f…
- kakatoe nouna genus of Psittacidae
- kakemono noun(art) A vertical Japanese scroll painting.
- kaki nounA persimmon, specifically a Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki).
- kala azar nounAlternative spelling of kala-azar.
- kala-azar noun(pathology) Visceral leishmaniasis.
- Kalahari proper nounA large desert in Southern Africa, including much of Botswana, and part of Namibia and Northern Cape, South Africa.
- Kalahari Desert proper nounSynonym of Kalahari.
- Kalamazoo proper noun, nounA city, the county seat of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States.
- kalansuwa nouna cap that is wrapped around by a turban and worn by Muslim religious elders
- kalantas nounPhilippine timber tree having hard red fragrant wood
- Kalapooia nounAlternative form of Kalapuya.
- Kalapooian adjective, noun, proper nounDated form of Kalapuyan.
- Kalapuya nounA member of a Native American ethnic group traditionally living in the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United States.
- Kalapuyan adjective, noun, proper nounOf or relating to the Kalapuya people.
- Kalashnikov proper nounA particular model of Russian assault rifle.
- kale noun, proper nounAn edible plant, similar to cabbage, with curled leaves that do not form a dense head (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)
- kaleidoscope noun, verbAn instrument consisting of a tube containing mirrors and loose, colourful beads or other objects; when the tube is looked into and rotated…
- kaleidoscopic adjectiveOf, relating to, or produced by a kaleidoscope.
- kaleidoscopical adjectiveAlternative form of kaleidoscopic.
- kalemia noun(physiology, especially in combination) The presence of potassium in the blood, and (usually, especially) the degree (that is, its concentr…
- kali noun, proper nounThe prickly glasswort (Kali turgidum, syn. of Salsola kali).
- kalian adjective, noun(mineralogy) Containing potassium.
- kalif nounA rank in the Ku Klux Klan
- Kalimantan proper noun, nounA region in Southeast Asia; the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.
- Kalinin proper noun(historical) Tver, Russia (Тверь).
- kaliph nounAlternative spelling of caliph.
- kaliuresis noun(pathology) The presence of (an excessive amount of) potassium in the urine
- Kalka proper nounA town in Panchkula district, Haryana, India.
- Kalki proper noun(Hinduism) The tenth avatar of Vishnu.
- kalmia nounAny plant in the taxonomic genus Kalmia.
- kalotermes nountype genus of Kalotermitidae; termites destructive of wood and living trees
- kalotermitidae nounprimitive termites of warm regions
- kalpac nouna high-crowned black cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Turkey and Iran and the Caucasus
- kaluga noun, proper nounHuso dauricus, a sturgeon of the Amur river basin in northeast China and southeast Russia.
- kalumpang nounlarge tree of Old World tropics having foul-smelling orange-red blossoms followed by red pods enclosing oil-rich seeds sometimes used as fo…
- kaluresis nounAlternative form of kaliuresis.
- kam-sui nouna group of Kadai languages
- kam-tai nouna family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in southeastern Asia
- kama noun, proper nounA sickle-like weapon, originally used as a tool for cutting weeds.
- Kamarupan adjectiveOf or relating to a certain grouping of Tibeto-Burman languages.
- Kamasutra proper nounAlternative spelling of Kama Sutra.
- Kamba noun, proper nouna Bantu people of Kenya.
- Kamchatka Peninsula proper nounA peninsula in the Russian Far East, bordering the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Okhotsk.
- Kamchatkan sea eagle nounSynonym of Steller's sea eagle.
- kameez nounAlternative spelling of kamees.
- Kamet proper nounA mountain in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.
- kami noun, proper noun(religion, Shinto) An animistic god or spirit in the Shinto religion of Japan.
- Kamia nounA subgroup of the Kumeyaay people.
- kamikaze noun, verb, adjectiveAn attack requiring the suicide of the one carrying it out, especially when done with an aircraft.
- Kampala proper nounThe capital of, and largest city in, Uganda.
- kampong noun(Cambodia) A landing, a port; a river town.
- Kampuchea proper noun(historical) Former name of Cambodia: a country in Southeast Asia, used from 1975 to 1989.
- Kampuchean adjective, nounOf or pertaining to Kampuchea (Cambodia).
- kanaf nounAlternative form of kenaf.
- kanamycin noun(pharmacology) A broad-spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic from a Japanese soil streptomyces (Streptomyces kanamyceticus), used to treat sev…
- Kananga proper nounA city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Kanara proper nounAlternative spelling of Canara.
- Kanarese adjective, proper nounAlternative spelling of Canarese.
- Kanawha proper nounA small city in Hancock County, Iowa, United States.
- kanchanjanga nouna mountain the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and Tibet (28,208 feet high)
- Kanchenjunga proper nounAlternative form of Kangchenjunga.
- kanchil nounA small, agile chevrotain of the genus Tragulus, especially Tragulus kanchil (lesser mouse-deer).
- Kandahar proper nounA city, the capital of the province of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
- kandinski nounRussian painter who was a pioneer of abstract art (1866-1944)
- Kandinsky proper nounA surname
- kandy proper nounA city, the capital of Central Province, Sri Lanka.
- kangaroo noun, verb, adjectiveA member of the Macropodidae family of large marsupials with strong hind legs for hopping, native to Australia and New Guinea.
- kangaroo apple nounThe fruit of Solanum aviculare or Solanum vescum; the plants bearing such fruit.
- kangaroo court noun(originally US, idiomatic) A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without …
- kangaroo mouse nounAny rodent in the genus Microdipodops, native to the deserts of the South-western United States.
- kangaroo paw nounAny of various perennial flowering plants of the family Haemodoraceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
- kangaroo rat nounAny of many different species in genus Dipodomys, rodents that move about by hopping.
- kangaroo's-foot nounsedgelike spring-flowering herb having clustered flowers covered with woolly hairs; Australia
- Kannada nounThe Dravidian language that is the official language of the state of Karnataka, India.
- kannada-speaking adjectiveable to communicate in Kannada
- Kansa proper nounA Native American people who used to inhabit parts of Kansas.
- Kansan adjective, noun, proper nounOf, or pertaining to, Kansas or its culture.
- Kansas proper nounA state of the midwest United States. Capital: Topeka. Largest city: Wichita.
- Kansas City proper nounA city in Missouri, United States and one of the two county seats of Jackson County.
- Kansas River proper nounA river in Kansas, United States, which joins the Missouri River at Kansas City.
- Kansu proper nounObsolete spelling of Gansu.
- Kant proper nounA surname from German.
- Kantian adjective, noun(philosophy) Of, pertaining to, or resembling the philosophical views of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
- kantrex nounantibiotic (trade name Kantrex) used to treat severe infections
- kanzu nounA white or cream-coloured robe worn by men in the African Great Lakes region.
- kaochlor nounsalt of potassium (KCl) (trade names K-Dur 20, Kaochlor and K-lor and Klorvess and K-lyte); taken in tablet form to treat potassium deficie…
- kaoliang nounA sorghum-based variety of baijiu.
- kaolin nounA fine clay, rich in kaolinite, used in ceramics, papermaking, etc.
- kaoline nounAlternative spelling of kaolin.
- kaolinite noun(mineralogy) A common hydrous aluminosilicate mineral found in sediments, soils and sedimentary rocks, Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄; one of the kaolin gro…
- kaon noun(particle physics) any of four unstable subatomic particles, mesons, they are a combination of a strange quark or antiquark and either an u…
- kaopectate nountrade name for a fixed-combination antidiarrheal drug that use kaolin as the adsorbent and pectin as the emollient
- kapeika nounA Latvian coin worth one hundredth of a rublis.
- kaph nounThe eleventh letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
- kapok nounA silky fibre obtained from seed pods of the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) used for insulation and stuffing for mattresses, pillows, e…
- Kaposi's sarcoma noun(pathology) A tumour caused by human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8).
- kappa noun, interjectionThe tenth letter of the Greek alphabet.
- kappa-meson nounan unstable meson produced as the result of a high-energy particle collision
- kapsiki nouna Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad
- kapuka nounGriselinia littoralis, a tree of New Zealand.
- kaput adjective(informal) Out of order; not working.
- Kara Sea proper nounA part of the Arctic Ocean in north Russia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the …
- karabiner nounAlternative spelling of carabiner.
- Karachi proper nounThe largest city in Pakistan situated along the Arabian Sea, as well as the provincial capital of Sindh Province.
- Karaites nounplural of Karaite
- Karakalpak proper noun, nounA Turkic language of Uzbekistan and neighboring countries.
- Karakoram proper nounA mountain range located in Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan, containing more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,960 ft), including K2, the sec…
- karakul noun, proper nounA sheep of a Central Asian breed.
- karaoke noun, verb(uncountable) A form of entertainment popular in clubs, at parties, etc, in which individual members of the public sing along to pre-record…
- karat noun(American spelling) Alternative spelling of carat.
- karate noun, verbAn Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of f…
- karaya gum nounA gum extracted from the trees of the Sterculia genus, used as a food additive and denture adhesive.
- Karbala proper nounA city in central Iraq, site of the murder of Husayn ibn Ali and major pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims.
- Karelia proper nounA historical region of Northern Europe, located to the north of Saint Petersburg and politically split between Russia and Finland.
- Karelian adjective, noun, proper nounOf, from or relating to the region of Karelia, politically split between the administrative regions of North Karelia and South Karelia, Fin…
- Karelian Isthmus proper nounAn isthmus in Europe, located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga.
- karen proper noun, nounA female given name from Danish.
- Karenic adjective(linguistics) Of or relating to a grouping of tonal languages spoken by the Karen people.
- Karl-Marx-Stadt proper nounFormer name of Chemnitz, between 1953 and 1990 when it was in East Germany.
- karlfeldt nounSwedish poet whose works incorporate Swedish customs and folklore (1864-1931)
- Karloff proper nounA surname
- karma noun, proper noun(Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the c…
- Karnataka proper nounA state in southern India. Capital and largest city: Bengaluru.
- Karok proper noun, nounAlternative spelling of Karuk.
- karpov nounRussian chess master who was world champion from 1975 until 1985 when he was defeated by Gary Kasparov (born in 1951)
- karsavina nounRussian dancer who danced with Nijinsky (1885-1978)
- kartik nounthe eighth month of the Hindu calendar
- Kartikeya proper noun(Hinduism) war god, the son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, and the commander of Deva army.
- karttika nounthe eighth month of the Hindu calendar
- karttikeya nounHindu god of bravery
- karyokinesis noun(biology) The process of change that takes place during the division of a cell nucleus at mitosis or meiosis.
- karyokinetic adjectiveOf or pertaining to karyokinesis.
- karyolymph nounThe liquid part of the nucleus of a cell.
- karyolysis noun(biology) The dissolution of the nucleus of a cell by the action of deoxyribonuclease
- karyon noun(cytology) The nucleus of a cell.
- karyoplasm nounnucleoplasm
- karyotype noun, verb(genetics) The observed characteristics (number, type, shape, etc) of the chromosomes of an individual or species.
- Kasai proper nounA city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
- kasbah nounAlternative spelling of casbah.
- kasha noun, proper nounA porridge made from boiled buckwheat groats, or sometimes from other cereal groats.
- Kashag proper noun(historical) The governing council of Tibet from 1721 to 1959.
- Kashmir proper nounA contested geographic region of South Asia in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, located between (and de facto divided between)…
- Kashmiri noun, proper noun, adjectiveA native or resident of Kashmir, or a descendant of such a person.
- Kasparov proper nounA Russified Armenian surname from Armenian.
- kassite noun, proper noun(mineralogy) A rare mineral that is a basic oxide of calcium and titanium, with the chemical formula CaTi₂O₄(OH)₂.
- kastler nounFrench physicist (1902-1984)
- kat noun, proper nounAn ancient Egyptian unit of weight, one fiftieth of an avoirdupois pound.
- katabatic adjective(meteorology, of airflow) Downslope on a mountainside.
- katabatic wind noun(climatology) A drainage wind or a fall wind: a wind, such as the bora or Bohemian wind, which moves high density air from a higher elevati…
- katabolic adjectiveAlternative form of catabolic.
- katabolism nounAlternative form of catabolism.
- katamorphism noun(geology) Any form of metamorphism that occurs near the Earth's surface
- katar noun, proper nounAlternative form of katara (“type of dagger”).
- katari noun, adjectivea native or inhabitant of Qatar
- katharevusa nounliterary style of Modern Greek containing features borrowed from Koine