Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mayhem parva

/ˌmeɪˌ(h)ɛm ˈpɑɹvə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.14 in modern English

Syllables
May-hem Par-va
IPA
/ˌmeɪˌ(h)ɛm ˈpɑɹvə/
26
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

The archetypical sleepy English village that is the setting for a violent crime, as depicted in many works of detective fiction.

noun

The genre of detective fiction in which violent crimes occur in sleepy English villages.

Uncountable

Etymology

From mayhem (noun) + Latin parva (the feminine singular form of parvus (“little”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), referring to village names in England such as Ashby Parva and Glen Parva. The term was coined by the British writer of detective fiction Colin Watson (1920–1983), referring to the works of the English author Agatha Christie (1890–1976).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌmeɪˌ(h)ɛm ˈpɑɹvə/
  • British English: /ˌmeɪhɛm ˈpɑːvə/

Usage

Questions

How do you pronounce mayhem parva?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌmeɪˌ(h)ɛm ˈpɑɹvə/.
What does mayhem parva mean?
The archetypical sleepy English village that is the setting for a violent crime, as depicted in many works of detective fiction.
Where does mayhem parva come from?
It is traced to Proto-Indo-European.

How to pronounce mayhem parva

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