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

“backbiteth” is a form of

backbite

verb, noun

Forms backbites backbiting backbit backbitten back-bite

  1. verb To make spiteful slanderous or defamatory statements about someone.
  2. verb (informal) To attack from behind or when out of earshot with spiteful or defamatory remarks.
  3. verb To speak badly of an absent individual.
  4. noun One who engages in backbiting; a backbiter.

Synonyms

denigrate libel slander assassinate asperse badmouth befoul belibel besmirch besmear bewray blacken blame blaze blemish blot blur calumniate calumny chat shit bitch

Etymology

From Middle English bakbiten, bacbiten, equivalent to back- + bite. Cognate with Icelandic bakbíta (“to backbite, vilify”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (as absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent). Spenser.
  2. verb To censure or revile the absent.

Etymology [2nd back, n., + bite]

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