pronounce
Americanverb (used with object)
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to enunciate or articulate (sounds, words, sentences, etc.).
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to utter or sound in a particular manner in speaking.
He pronounces his words indistinctly.
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to utter or articulate in the accepted or correct manner.
I can't pronounce this word.
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to declare (a person or thing) to be as specified.
She pronounced it the best salmon she had ever tasted.
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to utter or deliver formally or solemnly.
to pronounce sentence.
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to announce authoritatively or officially.
The judge pronounced the defendant guilty.
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to indicate the pronunciation of (words) by providing a phonetic transcription.
This dictionary pronounces most of the words entered.
verb (used without object)
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to pronounce words, phrases, etc.
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to make a statement or assertion, especially an authoritative statement (often followed byon ).
He was required to pronounce on the findings of his research.
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to give an opinion or decision (usually followed byon ).
to pronounce on an important matter.
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to indicate the pronunciation of words.
a spelling book that pronounces.
verb
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to utter or articulate (a sound or sequence of sounds)
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(tr) to utter or articulate (sounds or words) in the correct way
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to proclaim officially and solemnly
I now pronounce you man and wife
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(when tr, may take a clause as object) to declare as one's judgment
to pronounce the death sentence upon someone
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(tr) to make a phonetic transcription of (sounds or words)
Other Word Forms
- prepronounce verb (used with object)
- pronounceable adjective
- pronounceableness noun
- pronouncer noun
- unpronounceable adjective
- unpronouncing adjective
Etymology
Origin of pronounce
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pronouncen, from Middle French prononcier, from Latin prōnūntiāre “to proclaim, announce, recite, utter”; pro- 1, announce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
