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

sycamore

UK /ˈsɪkəmɔː/ · US /ˈsɪkəmoɹ/ noun, proper noun

Forms sycamores sycomore

  1. noun (US) Any of several North American plane trees, of the genus Platanus, especially Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore), distinguished by its mottled bark which flakes off in large irregular masses.
  2. noun (UK) A large British and European species of maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, known in North America as the sycamore maple.
  3. noun (originally) A large tree bearing edible fruit, Ficus sycomorus, allied to the common fig, found in Egypt and Syria.
  4. proper noun An unincorporated community in Talladega County, Alabama.
  5. proper noun An unincorporated community in Colusa County, California.
  6. proper noun Former name of Herndon, California.
  7. proper noun An unincorporated community in Sussex County, Delaware.
  8. proper noun A minor city in Turner County, Georgia.
  9. proper noun A city, the county seat of DeKalb County, Illinois.
  10. proper noun An unincorporated community in Jackson Township, Howard County, Indiana.
  11. proper noun An unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Kansas.

Synonyms

planetree plane sycomore sycomore fig fig-mulberry lacewood plane tree platan great maple scottish maple Acer pseudoplatanus sycamore fig mulberry fig Ficus sycomorus

Etymology

Circa 1350 as Middle English sicamour, from Old French sicamor, from Latin sȳcomorus, from Ancient Greek σῡκόμορος (sūkómoros, literally “fig-mulberry”), from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) + μόρον (móron, “mulberry”). Possibly influenced by Hebrew שִׁקְמָה (shikmá, “fig-mulberry”).
In the 16th c. applied to the European maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), in the early 19th c. to various plane tree species introduced to North America, perhaps in analogy to their shadiness.

Webster’s 1913

Etymology [L. sycomorus, Gr. sycomore. Cf. Mulberry.]

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