pronounce
pronunciation
How to pronounce pronounce in British English:
UK [prəˈnaʊns]
How to pronounce pronounce in American English:
US [prəˈnaʊns]
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- Verb:
- speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way
- pronounce judgment on
Word Origin
- pronounce
- pronounce: [14] Latin nuntius meant ‘messenger’. From it was derived the verb nuntiāre ‘announce’, which has formed the basis of English announce [15], annunciation [14], denounce [13], pronounce, and renounce [14]. Pronounce itself goes back to Latin prōnuntiāre ‘proclaim’, formed with the prefix prō- ‘forth, out, in public’. Its specific application to the ‘way in which a person speaks’ emerged in English in the early 17th century.=> announce, denounce, nuncio, renounce
- pronounce (v.)
- early 14c., "to declare officially;" late 14c., "to speak, utter," from Old French prononcier "declare, speak out, pronounce" (late 13c., Modern French prononcer), from Late Latin pronunciare, from Latin pronuntiare "to proclaim, announce; pronounce, utter," from pro- "forth, out, in public" (see pro-) + nuntiare "announce," from nuntius "messenger" (see nuncio). With reference to the mode of sounding words or languages, it is attested from 1620s (but see pronunciation in this sense from early 15c.). Related: Pronounced; pronouncing.