Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

xerxes

/ˈzɝksiːz/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.68 in modern English

Syllables: xerx-es
IPA: /ˈzɝksiːz/

20

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Xerxes I, a Persian king of the Achaemenid dynasty who reigned 485-465 BC.

name

Xerxes II, a Persian king who ruled for 45 days in 424 BC before being assassinated.

name

A male given name from Old Persian mainly applied to historical and fictional characters.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ξέρξης (Xérxēs), from Old Persian 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 (x-š-y-a-r-š-a /⁠Xšayāršā⁠/, “ruler among kings”). Doublet of Ahasuerus.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: Ξέρξης, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈzɝksiːz/
British English: /ˈzɜːk.siːz/

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in People.

Inflected Forms

Xerxeses (plural)

Derived Forms

Xerxean

Frequently Paired Words

Ahasuerus Artaxerxes

Questions

How do you pronounce xerxes?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈzɝksiːz/.
What does xerxes mean?: Xerxes I, a Persian king of the Achaemenid dynasty who reigned 485-465 BC.
Where does xerxes come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce xerxes

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