Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cirrus

/ˈsɪɹəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.65 in modern English

Syllables: cir-rus
IPA: /ˈsɪɹəs/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Synonym of tendril (“a thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support”).

noun

A thin tendril-like appendage, such as a barbel (“whisker-like sensory organ around the mouth”) of some fish, a cilium of some species of protists, or a foot of some crustaceans of the infraclass Cirripedia.

noun

A tuft of ornamental feathers.

Obsolete

noun

A long, thin, wirelike tail feather.

Obsolete

noun

A principal high-level type of cloud, typically composed of thin, delicate, white filaments or wisps, or narrow bands.

Example Sentences

"Cirri are taken for thoſe fine Strings, or Hairs, by vvhich ſome Plants faſten themſelves, in order to their Support in creeping along; as Ivy, &c."
"Each foot is divided into two parts, one dorsal, the other ventral, and each part has a bundle of subulate bristles and a cirrus."
"All creatures which have their skins protected, whether by feathers, or shells, or scales, have an exquisite touch in their mouth, or in the appendages which hang from it. Fishes have cirri which hang from their mouth, and these are equivalent to the feelers or tentacula of insects and crustaceans."
"[page 99] Cirrus. […] Parallel, flexuous, or diverging fibres, extensible in any or in all directions. […] [page 100] In fair weather, with light variable breezes, the sky is seldom quite clear of small groups of the oblique cirrus, which frequently come on from the leeward, and the direction of their increase is to windward."
"Cirrus clouds moving from the southwest indicate falling temperature; moving from the northwest they indicate the probability of rising temperature. They are the mares' tales and cattails of sailors' cant. Near the horizon, cirrus clouds may have a stratiform appearance."
"He looked at the sky and saw the white cumulus built like friendly piles of ice cream and high above where the thin feathers of the cirrus against the high September sky."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cirrus (“curl; fringe of clothes; mane (especially forelock) of a horse; etc”); further etymology unknown. Sense 2 (“type of cloud”) was coined by the British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard (1772–1864): see the 1803 quotation. The plural form cirri is also a learned borrowing from Latin cirrī, the nominative or vocative plural of cirrus.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsɪɹəs/
British English: /ˈsɪɹəs/

Usage

Obsolete

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.

Inflected Forms

cirri (plural)

Derived Forms

cirral

Phrases

cirro- cirrus-bag

Frequently Paired Words

cirrate cirrated cirrhopod cirrhose cirriferous cirriform cirrigerous cirrigrade

Synonyms

tendril Ci cirrus cloud cirrhus

Homonyms

cirrous schirrus

Rhymes With

false cirrus cirrous stratocirrus

Questions

How do you pronounce cirrus?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɪɹəs/.
What does cirrus mean?: Synonym of tendril (“a thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support”).
Where does cirrus come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin cirrus (“curl; fringe of clothes; mane (especially forelock) of a horse; etc”); further etymology unknown. Sense 2 (“type of cloud”) was coined by the British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard (1772–1864): see the 1803 quotation. The plural form cirri is also a learned borrowing from Latin cirrī, the nominative or vocative plural of cirrus.

How to pronounce cirrus

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