Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kite

/ˈkiːtɛ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.55 in modern English

Syllables
ki-te
IPA
/ˈkiːtɛ/
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A rapacious person.

noun

A lightweight toy or other device, traditionally flat and shaped like a triangle with a segment of a circle attached to its base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines.

noun

A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium.

Example Sentences

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot. Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird. The verb is derived from the noun.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /kaɪt/
  • British English: /kaɪt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce kite?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkiːtɛ/.
What does kite mean?
A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
Where does kite come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce kite

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