Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ostiary

/ˈɒsti.əɹi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: os-tiary
IPA: /ˈɒsti.əɹi/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The mouth of a river; an estuary.

Archaic

noun

One who keeps the door, especially the door of a church; a porter.

Example Sentences

"the river of Nilus hath seven ostiaries, that is, by seven channels disburdened itself into the sea"
"They had other inferiour degrees of the Clergy, vvhich becauſe they are meerly ſubſervient, and not conſiderable in Church-government, I ſhall onely touch upon them. […] Laſtly, Oſtiaries; vvhich uſed to ring the bells, and open and ſhut the Church-doores."
"So arrayed I stepped at last from my door and was saluted as before by my monstrous ostiaries."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ostiārius, from ostium (“door, entrance”). See usher, which may be a doublet.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: ostiārius

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

ostiaries (plural)

Derived Forms

ostiariate

Synonyms

ostiarius doorkeeper door guard hall porter porter gatekeeper

Questions

How do you pronounce ostiary?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɒsti.əɹi/.
What does ostiary mean?: The mouth of a river; an estuary.
Where does ostiary come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce ostiary

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ostiary”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɒsti.əɹi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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