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

menial

/ˈmiːni.əl/ adjective, noun

Forms menials

  1. adjective Of or relating to work normally performed by a servant.
  2. adjective Of or relating to unskilled work. “menial job”
  3. adjective Servile; low; mean. “a menial wretch”
  4. noun A servant, especially a domestic servant.
  5. noun A person who has a subservient nature.

Synonyms

humble lowly

Etymology

From Middle English meyneal, from Anglo-Norman mesnal, from maisnee (“household”), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō (“house”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Belonging to a retinue or train of servants; performing servile office; serving.
  2. adjective Pertaining to servants, esp. domestic servants; servile; low; mean. " Menial offices." Swift.
  3. noun A domestic servant or retainer, esp. one of humble rank; one employed in low or servile offices.
  4. noun A person of a servile character or disposition.

Etymology [OE. meneal, fr. meine, maine, household, OF. maisniée, maisnie, LL. mansionaticum. See Mansion, and cf. Meine, n., Meiny.]

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

Sanskrit

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