Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

grimoire

/ˈɡɹɪmˌwɑːɹ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.32 in modern English

Syllables
gri-moire
IPA
/ˈɡɹɪmˌwɑːɹ/
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

Example Sentences

Etymology

Borrowed from French grimoire, a variant of grammaire, from Old French gramaire (“grammar; grimoire; conjurer, magician”), from Latin grammatica (“grammar; philology”), from grammaticus (“relating to grammar, grammatical”), from Ancient Greek γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός (grămmătĭkós, “knowing one's letters; concerned with textual criticism”), from γράμμα (grámma, “that which is drawn or written; letter; book, writing”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix added to noun stems to form adjectives). γράμμα is derived from γρᾰ́φω (grắphō, “to cut into, scratch; to draw, paint; to write”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve”)) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix added to verbal stems forming neuter nouns denoting the result of, a particular instance of, or the object of an action). The English word is a doublet of glamour, glamoury, gramarye, and grammar.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *gerbʰ-, grimoire, gramaire, grammatica, γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɡɹɪmˌwɑːɹ/
  • British English: /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/

Inflected Forms

Frequently Paired Words

Questions

How do you pronounce grimoire?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡɹɪmˌwɑːɹ/.
What does grimoire mean?
A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.
Where does grimoire come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce grimoire

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