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

firmament

UK /ˈfɜːməm(ə)nt/ · US /ˈfɝməmənt/ noun

Forms firmaments

  1. noun (usually uncountable, literary, poetic, also figuratively) The vault of the heavens, where the clouds, sun, moon, and stars can be seen; the heavens, the sky.
  2. noun (countable) The field or sphere of an activity or interest. “the international fashion firmament”
  3. noun (uncountable, astronomy, historical) In the geocentric Ptolemaic system, the eighth celestial sphere which carried the fixed stars; (countable, by extension) any celestial sphere.
  4. noun (uncountable, obsolete except biblical) The abode of God and the angels; heaven.
  5. noun (countable, obsolete) A piece of jewellery worn in a headdress with numerous gems resembling stars in the sky.
  6. noun (countable, obsolete, also figuratively) A basis or foundation; a support.
  7. noun (countable, obsolete) The act or process of making firm or strengthening.

Synonyms

lift welkin celestial sphere sphere empyrean heavens vault of heaven

Etymology

From Middle English firmament, furmament (“heaven; sky”), from Old French firmament (“firmament”), or from its etymon Latin firmāmentum (“support; sky”), from
firmāre (“to strengthen”) + -mentum (suffix indicating an instrument or medium, or the result of an action). Firmāre is the present active infinitive of firmō (“to make firm, strengthen”), from firmus (“firm, strong, stable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to hold; to support”).
The Latin word was used in the Vulgate version of the Bible to translate the
Ancient Greek στερέωμα (steréōma, “foundation, framework; firmament”) in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), which in turn was used to translate the Hebrew רָקִיעַ (rāqī́aʿ, “celestial dome, vault of heaven”), from the root ר־ק־ע (r-q-`); in Classical Syriac the similar root ܪ ܩ ܥ (related to compacting) gave rise to ܪܩܝܥܐ (rəqīʿā, “compact; firm; firmament, heavens, sky; celestial sphere”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Fixed foundation; established basis. [Obs.]
  2. noun The region of the air; the sky or heavens.

Etymology [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]

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

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “firmament” (best matches first).

All 23 Sanskrit matches →