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

staff

UK [stɑːf] · US [stæf] noun, verb

Forms staffs staves staffing staffed

  1. noun (plural staffs or staves) A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
  2. noun (music, plural staffs or staves) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
  3. noun (plural staff or staffs) People employed by a business or other organisation. “The company employed 10 new members of staff this month.”
  4. noun (construction, uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.
  5. noun A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office. “a constable's staff”
  6. noun A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
  7. noun (archaic) The rung of a ladder.
  8. noun A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
  9. verb (transitive) To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members.

Synonyms

personnel stick stave faculty

Etymology

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Danish stav, Swedish stav.
Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.
  2. noun A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. "Hooked staves." Piers Plowman.

Etymology [AS. stæf a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sthapay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand, and cf. Stab, Stave, n.]

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

Sanskrit

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

All 98 Sanskrit matches →