Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rotary

/ˈɹoʊ.tə.ɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.61 in modern English

Syllables: ro-tary
IPA: /ˈɹoʊ.tə.ɹi/

9

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Capable of rotation.

noun

A roundabout, traffic circle.

noun

Any of the clubs making up the international Rotary International movement for community service.

Example Sentences

"A rotary engine revolves the heads rather than having pistons go back and forth."
"Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml."

Etymology

Attested mid 18th century, from Medieval Latin rotarius, from Latin rota (“wheel”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: rotarius, rota

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɹoʊ.tə.ɹi/
British English: /ˈɹəʊ.tə.ɹi/

Inflected Forms

rotaries (plural)

Derived Forms

levorotary nonrotary Rotarian rotarily

Phrases

rotary beater rotary converter rotary-dial rotary dial rotary dialing rotary encoder rotary engine rotary evaporator

Synonyms

circular orbital synchronous converter rotary converter traffic circle circle roundabout

Rhymes With

notary coterie

Questions

How do you pronounce rotary?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹoʊ.tə.ɹi/.
What does rotary mean?: Capable of rotation.
Where does rotary come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce rotary

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