Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

burned-over district

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.23 in modern English

Syllables
burned-over dis-trict
IPA
27
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
3
Syllables
12
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A nickname for portions of Western New York State, where there was much religious fervor during the Second Great Awakening.

name

Alternative letter-case form of Burned-Over District.

Etymology

Coined by Charles Grandison Finney, who in his 1876 book Autobiography of Charles G. Finney referred to a "burnt district" to denote an area in central and western New York State during the Second Great Awakening. He felt that the area had been so heavily evangelized as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).

Questions

What does burned-over district mean?
A nickname for portions of Western New York State, where there was much religious fervor during the Second Great Awakening.
Where does burned-over district come from?
Coined by Charles Grandison Finney, who in his 1876 book Autobiography of Charles G. Finney referred to a "burnt district" to denote an area in central and western New York State during the Second Great Awakening. He felt that the area had been so heavily evangelized as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).

How to pronounce burned-over district

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “burned-over district”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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  4. Repeat and practice — Say “burned-over district” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.