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

lighten

/ˈlaɪ.tn̩/ verb

Forms lightens lightening lightened lightenest lightenedst lighteneth

  1. verb (transitive) To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate. “to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets”
  2. verb (intransitive) To become brighter or clearer; to brighten.
  3. verb (intransitive, now rare) To flash lightning, to give off lightning.
  4. verb (transitive) To emit or disclose in, or as if in, lightning; to flash out, like lightning.
  5. verb (archaic) To illuminate with knowledge.
  6. verb (transitive) To alleviate; to reduce the burden of. “Sorrow can be lightened by being openly brought out.”
  7. verb (transitive) To make light or lighter in weight.
  8. verb (transitive) To make less serious or more cheerful.
  9. verb (intransitive) To become light or lighter in weight.
  10. verb (intransitive) To become less serious or more cheerful.
  11. verb To descend; to light.

Synonyms

light up enlighten lighten up buoy up brighten relieve

Antonyms

weigh down darken

Etymology

From Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en.

From light + -en.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To descend; to light.
  2. verb To burst forth or dart, as lightning; to shine with, or like, lightning; to display a flash or flashes of lightning; to flash.
  3. verb To grow lighter; to become less dark or lowering; to brighten; to clear, as the sky.
  4. verb To make light or clear; to light; to illuminate; as, to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets. [In this sense less common than light.]

Etymology [See Light to alight.]

Etymology [OE. lightenen. See Light to kindle, illuminate.]

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

Sanskrit

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