Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

govan

/ɡˈoʊvən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.64 in modern English

Syllables
go-v-an
IPA
/ɡˈoʊvən/
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A surname.

Countable; Uncountable

name

An urban area in Glasgow, Glasgow council area, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde (OS grid ref NS5565).

Countable; Uncountable

name

A small town in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Countable; Uncountable

name

A small town in Bamberg County, South Carolina, United States.

Countable; Uncountable

name

An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Washington, United States, considered to be a ghost town.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Uncertain. Traditionally said to derive from Irish gobán (“gag, muzzle”), equivalent to gob (“beak”) + -án. Clancy (1997) and Forsyth (2002) preferred a Cumbric formation, equivalent to Welsh go- (“under”) + fan, the soft mutation of ban (“peak”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

Govans (plural)

Rhymes With

woven interwoven jovan handwoven hoven villanovan lovan hovan

Questions

How do you pronounce govan?
The recorded pronunciation is /ɡˈoʊvən/.
What does govan mean?
A surname.
Where does govan come from?
It is traced to Irish.

How to pronounce govan

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