pronounce
Etymology

Recorded since c.1330 as Middle English pronouncen, from Old French prononcier, from Latin prōnūntiō, itself from prō- + nūntiō ("I announce") from nūntius ("messenger").

Pronunciation
  • (America, RP) IPA: /pɹəˈnaʊns/
Verb

pronounce (pronounces, present participle pronouncing; simple past and past participle pronounced)

  1. (transitive) To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
    I hereby pronounce you man and wife.
  2. (transitive) To declare authoritatively, or as a formal expert opinion.
    The doctor pronounced them legally dead.
    • 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children's Books, →ISBN:
      “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.
    1. (transitive) To pronounce dead.
      • 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
        Despite resuscitative efforts, Mr. Gray was pronounced on 4/19/2015.
  3. (intransitive) To pass judgment.
    The judge had pronounced often before, but never in front of such a crowd.
  4. (transitive) To sound out (a word or phrase); to articulate.
    • 1869, Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, page 182:
      They spell it "Vinci" and pronounce it "Vinchy". Foreigners always spell better than they pronounce.
    1. (in passive) To sound like.
      The Icelandic double l in Eyjafjallajökull is pronounced tl.
  5. (intransitive) To produce the components of speech.
    Actors must be able to pronounce perfectly or deliberately disabled.
  6. (transitive) To read aloud.
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