pronounce

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English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1330 as Middle English pronouncen (“to utter, declare officially”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French prononcier, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin prōnūntiō, itself from prō- (“forth, out, in public”) + nūntiō (“I announce”) from nūntius (“messenger”).

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /pɹəˈnaʊns/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊns

Verb

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  1. (transitive) To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
    I hereby pronounce you man and wife.
  2. (transitive) To declare authoritatively, or as a formal expert opinion.
    The doctor pronounced them legally dead.
    1. (transitive) To pronounce dead.
      • 2015, April 30, Carol H. Allan, David R. Fowler (medical examiners), Freddie Gray autopsy: excerpt from the report, published in The Baltimore Sun, June 24, 2015
        Despite resuscitative efforts, Mr. Gray was pronounced on 4/19/2015.
  3. (intransitive) To pass judgment.
    The judge had pronounced often before, but never in front of such a crowd.
  4. (transitive) To sound out (a word or phrase); to articulate.
    • 1869, Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, page 182:
      They spell it "Vinci" and pronounce it "Vinchy". Foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.
    • 2007, Don DeLillo, Underworld: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Scribner Classics, →ISBN, page 543:
      I wanted to look up velleity and quotidian and memorize the fuckers for all time, spell them, learn them, pronounce them syllable by syllable—vocalize, phonate, utter the sounds, say the words for all they're worth.
    1. (in passive) To sound like.
      The Icelandic double l in Eyjafjallajökull is pronounced tl.
  5. (intransitive) To produce the components of speech.
    Actors must be able to pronounce perfectly or deliberately disabled.
  6. (transitive) To read aloud.

Derived terms

Derived terms

Template:der-mid

Translations

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Translations to be checked
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