Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

veterinarian

/ˌvɛt(ə)ɹəˈnɛɹ.i.ən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English

Syllables: vet-er-i-nar-i-an
IPA: /ˌvɛt(ə)ɹəˈnɛɹ.i.ən/

15

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

6

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A medical doctor who treats non-human animals.

adj

Example Sentences

"A fascination with Hokkaido's wild country first drew the veterinarian to Abashiri, and he is a leading expert on the Ezo red fox. Like much of Hokkaido's wildlife, this fox is not found on Honshu."
"The first edition, translated into 6 languages, appeared to fulfil a need, and a minisurvey of UK veterinarians graduated 2–40 years ago showed unanimous support for such a revision […]"

Etymology

From Latin veterīnārius (“cattle doctor”) + -an, from veterīnae (“beasts of burden, draught-”), probably from vehō (“to convey, draw”), or from vetus (“old”). By surface analysis, veterinary + -an.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: veterīnārius
Suffix: an

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌvɛt(ə)ɹəˈnɛɹ.i.ən/

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.

Inflected Forms

veterinarians (plural)

Derived Forms

paraveterinarian vet veterinarianism

Frequently Paired Words

veterinary doctor physician

Synonyms

vet veterinary surgeon veterinary animal doctor

Rhymes With

humanitarian bulgarian marion hungarian authoritarian marian barbarian sectarian totalitarian agrarian bavarian egalitarian

Questions

How do you pronounce veterinarian?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌvɛt(ə)ɹəˈnɛɹ.i.ən/.
What does veterinarian mean?: A medical doctor who treats non-human animals.
Where does veterinarian come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce veterinarian

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