pronounce
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɹəˈnaʊns/
note: Indic
ipa: /prɵˈnawns/
homophone: pronouns (some speakers)
rhymes: -aʊns
Forms: form: pronounces
form: pronouncing
form: pronounced
form: pronounced
Etymology: Recorded since c.1330 as Middle English pronouncen (“to utter, declare officially”), from Old French prononcier, from Latin prōnūntiō, itself from prō- (“forth, out, in public”) + nūntiō (“I announce”) from nūntius (“messenger”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: I hereby pronounce you man and wife.
glosses: To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
examples: text: The doctor pronounced them legally dead.
text: See there! A son is born
And we pronounce him fit to fight
There are blackheads on his shoulders
And he pees himself in the night.
ref: 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:
text: “If any pupil considers it acceptable to bring a pet into this school, let me tell you it is forbidden. Strictly forbidden!” pronounced the headmaster from the front of the class.
ref: 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
text: Paramedics attended, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
ref: 2020 December 16, Paul Clifton, “Investigation begins after death at Eastleigh depot”, in Rail, page 12:
glosses: To declare authoritatively, or as a formal expert opinion.
examples: text: Despite resuscitative efforts, Mr. Gray was pronounced on 4/19/2015.
ref: 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
glosses: To declare authoritatively, or as a formal expert opinion.
To pronounce dead.
examples: text: The judge had pronounced often before, but never in front of such a crowd.
glosses: To pass judgment.
examples: text: They spell it "Vinci" and pronounce it "Vinchy". Foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.
ref: 1869, Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, page 182:
text: 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.
ref: 2007, Don DeLillo, Underworld: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Scribner Classics, →ISBN, page 543:
glosses: To sound out (a word or phrase); to articulate.
examples: text: The Icelandic double l in Eyjafjallajökull is pronounced tl.
text: The Chinese believe feng shui, pronounced fung shway, can help blunt the ill effects to health and wealth brought on, for example, by the inauspicious jut of an adjacent building or hill.
ref: 1997 January 31, Charles Hutzler, “Leader’s office hunt a lesson in arcana and parking problems”, in AP News, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2023:
text: The DPRK (Joseon Minjujui Inmin Konghuaguk 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國) is read in Chinese as Chaoxian minzhu zhuyi renmin gonghe guo, and its capital, Pyeonyang, is pronounced Pingrang 平壤.
ref: 2012, Endymion Wilkinson, “Introduction”, in Chinese History: A New Manual, 3rd revised edition, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 14:
glosses: To sound out (a word or phrase); to articulate.
To sound like.
qualifier: passive voice
examples: text: Actors must be able to pronounce perfectly or deliberately disabled.
glosses: To produce the components of speech.
glosses: To read aloud.
examples: text: The two men standing are facing with their backs towards the audience, wearing tight knitted garments that pronounce their bottoms.
ref: 2014 November 26, Ad Standards, Case Report 0501/14:
text: Bro I've been saying this for the longest time. The problem is that this country loves gossip bro. It pronounces how shallow thinking we are and becoming a lucrative ground for narratives to fog our thinking if we don't outsource it.
ref: 2024 July 11, @Mahlako_Mokwala, Twitter:
glosses: To emphasize, highlight.
Derived terms: how do you pronounce this word
pronounceable
pronounced
pronouncer
pronouncing
pronouncing dictionary
self-pronouncing
Related terms: pronouncement
pronunciation