# lisp
## English
### Alternative forms

* lipsey
* lithp (humorous)

### Etymology

From Middle English lispen, lipsen, wlispen, from Old English *wlispian (attested in āwlyspian (“to lisp”)), from Old English wlisp, wlips (“stammering, lisping”, adj), from Proto-Germanic *wlispaz (“lisping”), from Proto-Indo-European *wlis-, *wleys- (“rod”), from *wel- (“to turn, roll”). Cognate with Middle Low German wlispen (“to lisp”), Dutch lispen (“to lisp”), German lispeln (“to lisp”), Danish læspe (“to lisp”), Swedish läspa (“to lisp”).

### Pronunciation

* Standard: IPA: /lɪsp/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Humorous:
** IPA: /lɪθp/
** IPA: /lɪl͡sp/
* Rhymes: -ɪsp

### Noun

lisp (plural lisps)
* The habit or an act of lisping.
    He used to have a terrible lisp before going to a speech therapist.
    It's common for children to speak with a lisp.

#### Derived terms

* lispy

#### Translations
### Verb

lisp (third-person singular simple present lisps, present participle lisping, simple past and past participle lisped)
* To pronounce the consonant ‘s’ imperfectly; to give ‘s’ and ‘z’ the sounds of ‘th’ (/θ/, /ð/). This is a speech impediment common among children.
    Until the age of 10, Dominic would lisp, but this was fixed by a speech therapist.
* To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, such as a child learning to talk.
** 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 7, lines 122–123:As yet a Child, nor yet a Fool to Fame, / I liſp'd in Numbers, for the Numbers came.
* (archaic) To speak hesitatingly and with a low voice, as if afraid.
** 1597, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “[Englands Heroicall Epistles.] (please specify the subtitle)”, in Poems: […], London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] Ling, published 1605, →OCLC:Lest when my lisping, guilty tongue should halt.
* (archaic) to express by the use of simple, childlike language.
** 1830, Mary Russell Mitford, “Cottage Names”, in Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery, volume IV, London: Whittaker, Treacher, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 68:But the fashion spreads deeper and wider; the village is infected and the village green; Amelias and Claras sweep your rooms and cook your dinners, gentle Sophias milk your cows, and if you ask a pretty smiling girl at a cottage door to tell you her name, the rosy lips lisp out Caroline.
** 1848, Henry Walter, editor, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures:to speak unto them after their own capacity, and to lisp the words unto them , according as the babes and children of that age might sound them againagain
* (archaic) To speak with reserve or concealment; to utter timidly or confidentially.
    to lisp treason
** 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:"You have done well, sir," said Delwood, calmly, as he placed double the amount of Mrs. Santon's bribe in the Signor's hand; "you have done well, sir; and mark my words,—gold can never relieve a guilty conscience! Go, sir, and see that you lisp not a syllable of this to any one."

#### Derived terms

* lisper

#### Translations
### See also

* brogue
* drawl
* lallation
* lilt
* twang

### Anagrams

* LSPI, slip, lips, LIPs, pils, PILs, Lips, LPIs