Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

parenthesis

/pəˈɹɛn.θə.sɪs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English

Syllables
paren-the-sis
IPA
/pəˈɹɛn.θə.sɪs/
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Either of a pair of brackets, especially (mainly US) round brackets, ( and ) (used to enclose parenthetical material in a text).

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A digression; the use of such digressions.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin parenthesis (“addition of a letter to a syllable in a word”), itself borrowed from Ancient Greek παρένθεσις (parénthesis, “insertion”). By surface analysis, par- + en- + thesis.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: παρένθεσις

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce parenthesis?
The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈɹɛn.θə.sɪs/.
What does parenthesis mean?
A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.
Where does parenthesis come from?
It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce parenthesis

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