Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wellesley

/ˈwɛlɪzli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.97 in modern English

Syllables: welles-ley
IPA: /ˈwɛlɪzli/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

An English surname.

name

A town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts; named for the estate of local benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell

name

A township in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

name

Ellipsis of Wellesley College.

Etymology

From the name of the town Wells (“springs”) + lēah (“woodland”), thus 'the woodland by the springs'.

Inflected Forms

Wellersley (alternative) Wellsley (alternative)

Derived Forms

Wellesleyan

Phrases

Wellesley effect Wellesley Hills

Questions

How do you pronounce wellesley?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwɛlɪzli/.
What does wellesley mean?: An English surname.
Where does wellesley come from?: From the name of the town Wells (“springs”) + lēah (“woodland”), thus 'the woodland by the springs'.

How to pronounce wellesley

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