Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

capillary

/kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.88 in modern English

Syllables
cap-il-lar-y
IPA
/kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Resembling or pertaining to hair, especially in slenderness or fineness.

adj

Of or pertaining to a narrow tube.

adj

Of, relating to, or caused by surface tension.

adj

Of or relating to capillaries in the body or to capillary action.

noun

Any of the small blood vessels (from 5 to 10 micrometres/micrometers (μm) in diameter) that connect arteries to veins (They are the smallest blood vessels in the body: they convey blood between the arterioles and venules).

noun

A tube or channel having a very small internal diameter, through which liquid can rise or be drawn by capillary action.

Etymology

From Latin capillāris (“pertaining to the hair”), from capillus (“the hair, properly of the head”), from caput (“head”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/
  • British English: /kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/

Inflected Forms

more capillary (comparative) most capillary (superlative) capillaries (plural)

Derived Forms

alveolocapillary arteriocapillary capillaric capillarily capillaritis capillarization cerebrocapillary choriocapillary elastocapillary electrocapillary endocapillary exocapillary

Phrases

capillary bed capillary refill capillary action capillary wave peritubular capillary circulatory system

Frequently Paired Words

artery circulatory system vein

Synonyms

hairlike capillary tube capillary tubing capillary vessel

Rhymes With

auxiliary ancillary maxillary axillary papillary pillory pupillary fritillary neurofibrillary premaxillary armillary bacillary

Questions

How do you pronounce capillary?
The recorded pronunciation is /kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/.
What does capillary mean?
Resembling or pertaining to hair, especially in slenderness or fineness.
Where does capillary come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce capillary

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “capillary”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/kəˈpɪl.ə.ɹi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “capillary”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “capillary” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.