Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

earring

/ˈɪɹɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables
ear-ring
IPA
/ˈɪɹɪŋ/
8
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A piece of jewelry worn on the ear.

noun

Alternative form of earing (“a manufacturing defect in which the edges of sheet metal form a wave pattern during deep drawing”).

Uncountable

Etymology

From Middle English erering, from Old English ēarhring (“ear-ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀahring, equivalent to ear + ring. Cognate with West Frisian earring (“earring”), Dutch oorring (“earring”), German Low German Ohrring (“earring”), German Ohrring (“earring”), Danish ørering (“earring”), Swedish örring (“earring”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *h₂ew-, erering, ēarhring, *auʀahring

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɪɹɪŋ/
  • British English: /ˈɪəɹɪŋ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

earrings (plural) ear-ring (alternative) earing (alternative)

Derived Forms

earringed earringless

Phrases

chandelier earring drop earring hoop earring pierced earring slave earring

Frequently Paired Words

earing

Homonyms

airing (cheer–chair merger)

Rhymes With

engineering appearing clearing steering cheering disappearing fearing pioneering interfering volunteering nearing gearing

Questions

How do you pronounce earring?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɪɹɪŋ/.
What does earring mean?
A piece of jewelry worn on the ear.
Where does earring come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce earring

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