Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

philander

/fɪˈlændəɹ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.23 in modern English

Syllables
phi-lan-der
IPA
/fɪˈlændəɹ/
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A lover.

noun

A South American opossum, bare-tailed woolly opossum, of species Caluromys philander (syn. Didelphis philander).

noun

A greater bilby, an Australian marsupial of species Macrotis lagotis (syn. Perameles lagotis).

Obsolete

verb

To woo women; to play the male flirt.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

As a verb, first seen in the 1824 play Philandering: Or, The Rose Queen, by Samuel Beazley. From the given name Philander, used for love interest or suitor stock characters in several 18th century stories and poems, from Ancient Greek Φίλανδρος (Phílandros), name of the mythological son of the nymph Acacallis and the god Apollo. Semantically disconnected from the adjective φίλανδρος (phílandros, “loving one’s husband; excessively attracted to males, slutty, boy crazy”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: Φίλανδρος

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /fɪˈlændəɹ/
  • British English: /fɪˈlændə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

philanders (plural) philanders (present, singular) philandering (participle, present) philandered (participle, past) philandered (past)

Derived Forms

philanderess philanderous philanderer philandering

Frequently Paired Words

filander

Synonyms

womanize womanise chat up flirt dally butterfly coquet coquette romance mash

Rhymes With

commander alexander slander lander santander coriander sander gander hander grander candor aleksandr

Questions

How do you pronounce philander?
The recorded pronunciation is /fɪˈlændəɹ/.
What does philander mean?
A lover.
Where does philander come from?
It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce philander

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