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

balm

UK /bɑːm/ · US /bɑm/ noun, verb

Forms balms balming balmed

  1. noun Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.
  2. noun An aromatic preparation for embalming the dead.
  3. noun A plant or tree yielding such substance.
  4. noun Any soothing oil or lotion, especially an aromatic one.
  5. noun (figuratively) Something soothing. “Classical music is a sweet balm for our sorrows.”
  6. noun The lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.
  7. noun Any of a number of other aromatic herbs with a similar citrus-like scent, such as bee balm and horsebalm.
  8. verb (transitive, archaic) To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal.
  9. verb (transitive, figurative) To soothe; to mitigate.

Synonyms

balsam ointment unction unguent salve

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun An aromatic plant of the genus Melissa.
  2. noun The resinous and aromatic exudation of certain trees or shrubs.
  3. verb To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal. Hence: To soothe; to mitigate. [Archaic] Shak.

Etymology [OE. baume, OF. bausme, basme, F. baume, L. balsamum balsam, from Gr. ; perhaps of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. basam. Cf. Balsam.]

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