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By Root 3202 0

indicates that not all educated speakers pronounce words the same way. A second-place variant is not to be regarded as less acceptable than the pronunciation that is given first. It may, in fact, be used by as many educated speakers as the first variant, but the requirements of the printed page are such that one must precede the other:

apri·cot /ˈa-prə-ˌkät, ˈā-/

fore·head /ˈfȯr-əd, ˈfȯr-ˌhed/

Symbols enclosed by parentheses represent elements that are present in the pronunciation of some speakers but are absent from the pronunciation of other speakers, or elements that are present in some but absent from other utterances of the same speaker:

1om·ni·bus /ˈäm-ni-(ˌ)bəs/

ad·di·tion·al /ə-ˈdi-sh(ə-)nəl/

Thus, the above parentheses indicate that some people say /ˈäm-ni-ˌbəs/ and others say /ˈäm-ni-bəs/; some /ə-ˈdi-shə-nəl/ , others /ə-ˈdi-shnəl/.

When a main entry has less than a full pronunciation, the missing part is to be supplied from a pronunciation in a preceding entry or within the same pair of reversed slashes:

cham·pi·on·ship /-ˌship/

pa·la·ver /pə-ˈla-vər, -ˈlä-/

The pronunciation of the first three syllables of championship is found at the main entry champion. The hyphens before and after /ˈlä/ in the pronunciation of palaver indicate that both the first and the last parts of the pronunciation are to be taken from the immediately preceding pronunciation.

In general, no pronunciation is indicated for open compounds consisting of two or more English words that have own-place entry:

witch doctor noun

Only the first entry in a sequence of numbered homographs is given a pronunciation if their pronunciations are the same:

1re·ward /ri-ˈwȯrd/ verb

2reward noun

The absent but implied pronunciation of derivatives and compounds run on after a main entry is a combination of the pronunciation at the main entry and the pronunciation of the other element as given at its alphabetical place in the vocabulary:

— ab·ject·ness noun

— face off verb

Thus, the pronunciation of abjectness is the sum of the pronunciations given at abject and -ness; that of face off, the sum of the pronunciations of the two elements that make up the phrase.

FUNCTIONAL LABELS

An italic label indicating a part of speech or another functional classification follows the pronunciation or, if no pronunciation is given, the main entry. The eight traditional parts of speech are indicated as follows:

bold … adjective

forth·with … adverb

1but … conjunction

ge·sund·heit … interjection

bo·le·ro … noun

2un·der … preposition

1it … pronoun

1slap … verb

Other italicized labels used to indicate functional classifications that are not traditional parts of speech include:

AT abbreviation

self- combining form

un- … prefix

-ial adjective suffix

2-ly adverb suffix

2-er … noun suffix

-ize … verb suffix

Fe symbol

may … verbal auxiliary

Functional labels are sometimes combined:

afloat … adjective or adverb

INFLECTED FORMS

Nouns

The plurals of nouns are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a change of final -y to -i-, when the noun ends in a consonant plus -o or in -ey, when the noun ends in -oo, when the noun has an irregular plural or an uninflected plural or a foreign plural, when the noun is a compound that pluralizes any element but the last, when a final consonant is doubled, when the noun has variant plurals, and when it is believed that the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the spelling of the plural or when the plural is spelled in a way contrary to what is expected:

2spy noun, plural spies

si·lo … noun, plural silos

val·ley … noun, plural valleys

2shampoo noun, plural shampoos

mouse … noun, plural mice

moose … noun, plural moose

cri·te·ri·on … noun, plural -ria

son–in–law … noun, plural sons–in–law

1quiz … noun, plural quiz·zes

1fish … noun, plural fish or fishes

pi … noun, plural pis

3dry noun, plural drys

Cutback inflected forms are used when the noun has three or more syllables:

ame·ni·ty … noun, plural -ties

The plurals of nouns are usually not shown when