Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

nostril

/ˈnɑ.stɹəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.77 in modern English

Syllables
nos-tril
IPA
/ˈnɑ.stɹəl/
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English nostrille, from Old English nosþyrel. Compare Old Frisian nosterle (“nostril”), modern West Frisian noaster (“nostrill”). Compare also Middle Low German noster (“nostril”), from Proto-Germanic *nustriz (“nostril”). By surface analysis, nose + thirl (“hole”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: nostrille, nosþyrel

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈnɑ.stɹəl/
  • British English: /ˈnɒs.tɹɪl/

Inflected Forms

nostrils (plural) nosethirl (alternative)

Derived Forms

horsenostrilled internostril nostriled nostrilful nostrility nostrilled septril

Synonyms

intake nare naris nosehole anterior naris

Rhymes With

austral rostral brevirostral serratirostral nasorostral

Questions

How do you pronounce nostril?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɑ.stɹəl/.
What does nostril mean?
Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.
Where does nostril come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce nostril

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