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

improvement

/ɪmˈpɹuːvmənt/ noun

Forms improvements emprovement

  1. noun The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
  2. noun The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
  3. noun The state of being improved; betterment; advance
  4. noun Something which is improved “the new edition is an improvement on the old.”
  5. noun Increase; growth; progress; advance.
  6. noun (in the plural) Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
  7. noun (Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Synonyms

improval amelioration betterment advance melioration

Antonyms

worsening deterioration disimprovement decline

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman emprouwement. By surface analysis, improve + -ment.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc. I look upon your city as the best place of improvement. South.
  2. noun The act of making profitable use or applicaton of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse. "A good improvement of his reason." S. Clarke.

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

Sanskrit

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