# pronounce

Pronunciation: say "pruh-NOWNS" /pɹəˈnaʊns/

## Verb

1. To sound out a word or phrase; to articulate its sounds.
   - Simple: To say the sounds of a word in the correct way.
   - _Foreign students learn to pronounce unfamiliar consonant clusters._
   - _He carefully pronounced each guest's name during the introductions._
2. To declare something formally, officially, or with ceremony.
   - Simple: To say something in an official or formal way.
   - _At the wedding, the officiant will pronounce the couple legally married._
   - _The mayor pronounced the festival officially open from the main stage._
3. To state something with authority or present it as an expert's formal judgment.
   - Simple: To say what you have decided is true, speaking as an expert.
   - _After examining the painting, the appraisers pronounce it genuine._
   - _The inspector pronounced the old bridge safe for traffic._
4. To declare officially that a person has died.
   - Simple: To officially say that someone has died.
   - _Emergency staff could not pronounce the victim dead until a physician arrived._
   - _The coroner pronounced her dead at three in the morning._
5. To pass judgment, especially by giving a formal opinion.
   - Simple: To give your opinion or decision about something.
   - _Experts hesitated to pronounce on the cause of the collapse._
   - _The council finally pronounced on the zoning dispute last night._
6. To produce the individual sounds that make up speech.
   - Simple: To make the sounds used in speaking.
   - _Some patients find it difficult to pronounce after surgery on the jaw._
   - _The actor pronounced with great clarity throughout the long monologue._
7. To read a written text aloud to an audience or listener.
   - Simple: To read written words out loud.
   - _Students take turns to pronounce paragraphs from the textbook._
   - _The clerk pronounced the entire letter aloud at the meeting._
8. To have a spoken form that resembles that of another word or sound.
   - Simple: To sound similar to another word when spoken.
   - _Some dialects pronounce "aunt" like "ahnt" rather than "ant."_
   - _He always pronounced "route" like "rout" instead of "root."_
9. To emphasize something or make it more noticeable.
   - Simple: To make something stand out or seem stronger.
   - _Sharp tailoring tends to pronounce the shoulders of a jacket._
   - _The stage lighting pronounced her cheekbones for the whole audience._

## Origin

Recorded since around 1330 as Middle English pronouncen ('to utter, declare officially'), from Old French prononcier, from Latin prōnūntiō. This was built from prō- ('forth, out, in public') plus nūntiō ('I announce'), from nūntius ('messenger').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pronounce (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).