Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

carapace

/ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.63 in modern English

Syllables: cara-pace
IPA: /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.

noun

That which protects.

Example Sentences

"So, little by little, youth loosens the hard carapace of confining custom their elders have built over the human heart."
"This is all a massive failure of science to pierce the carapace of public ignorance."

Etymology

Etymology tree substrateder.? Spanish carapachobor. French carapacebor. English carapace Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language. Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the source of scarab); also Spanish galápago (“kind of turtle”). Doublet of calipash.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: carapace, carapacho

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/

Inflected Forms

carapaces (plural) carapax (alternative, nonstandard)

Derived Forms

carapaced carapacelike carapaceous carapacial carapacic pseudocarapace

Frequently Paired Words

exoskeleton

Synonyms

shell cuticle shield

Questions

How do you pronounce carapace?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/.
What does carapace mean?: A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
Where does carapace come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce carapace

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