Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ophelia

/oʊˈfi.əl.jə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.88 in modern English

Syllables: ophe-lia
IPA: /oʊˈfi.əl.jə/

12

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A female given name from Ancient Greek.

name

A moon of Uranus.

Example Sentences

"I lov’d Ophelia: forty thousand brothers // Could not, with all their quantity of love, // Make up my sum."
"The eldest daughter of a nobleman / Ophelia lived in fantasy / But love was a cold bed full of scorpions / The venom stole her sanity"

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian Ofelia, coined by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro in his poem Arcadia (1504), probably from the Ancient Greek ὠφέλειᾰ (ōphéleiă, “help, aid, succour”). The name was used by William Shakespeare for the daugher of Polonius and ill-fated love interest of Hamlet. The moon (of Uranus) is named after this character. Doublet of anopheles

Origin

Source language: Italian

Word Breakdown

Root: Ofelia

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /oʊˈfi.əl.jə/
British English: /ɒˈfiː.lɪə/

Derived Forms

Ophelian

Phrases

Ophelia complex Ophelia syndrome

Homonyms

aphelia (one pronunciation)

Rhymes With

amelia memorabilia cecilia celia delia cornelia cecelia lelia fidelia vermilyea cordelia psychedelia

Questions

How do you pronounce ophelia?: The recorded pronunciation is /oʊˈfi.əl.jə/.
What does ophelia mean?: A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Where does ophelia come from?: It is traced to Italian.

How to pronounce ophelia

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ophelia”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/oʊˈfi.əl.jə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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