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pronounce

[pruh-nouns]
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verb (used with object), pro·nounced, pro·nounc·ing.
  1. to enunciate or articulate (sounds, words, sentences, etc.).
  2. to utter or sound in a particular manner in speaking: He pronounces his words indistinctly.
  3. to utter or articulate in the accepted or correct manner: I can't pronounce this word.
  4. to declare (a person or thing) to be as specified: She pronounced it the best salmon she had ever tasted.
  5. to utter or deliver formally or solemnly: to pronounce sentence.
  6. to announce authoritatively or officially: The judge pronounced the defendant guilty.
  7. to indicate the pronunciation of (words) by providing a phonetic transcription: This dictionary pronounces most of the words entered.
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verb (used without object), pro·nounced, pro·nounc·ing.
  1. to pronounce words, phrases, etc.
  2. to make a statement or assertion, especially an authoritative statement (often followed by on): He was required to pronounce on the findings of his research.
  3. to give an opinion or decision (usually followed by on): to pronounce on an important matter.
  4. to indicate the pronunciation of words: a spelling book that pronounces.
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Origin of pronounce

1300–50; Middle English pronouncen < Middle French prononcier < Latin prōnūntiāre to proclaim, announce, recite, utter. See pro-1, announce
Related formspro·nounce·a·ble, adjectivepro·nounce·a·ble·ness, nounpro·nounc·er, nounpre·pro·nounce, verb (used with object), pre·pro·nounced, pre·pro·nounc·ing.un·pro·nounce·a·ble, adjectiveun·pro·nounc·ing, adjective
Can be confusedannounce enunciate pronounce (see synonym study at announce)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pronouncer

Historical Examples

  • The name of this officer is equivalent to the pronouncer of doom or sentence.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2, Illustrated

    Sir Walter Scott

  • He was the pronouncer who was not undertaking the way to have enough listen to every one.

  • Another name for judge was Dempster, the pronouncer of doom, a title which still exists in the Isle of Man.

    The Romance of Names

    Ernest Weekley

  • In Brookes' and White's Selwyn appeared with a twofold fame, that of a pronouncer of bon-mots and that of a lover of horrors.

    The Wits and Beaux of Society

    Grace &amp; Philip Wharton

  • He put away his stethoscope and smiled at Doggie, who regarded him blankly as the pronouncer of a doom.

    The Rough Road

    William John Locke

British Dictionary definitions for pronouncer

pronounce

verb
  1. to utter or articulate (a sound or sequence of sounds)
  2. (tr) to utter or articulate (sounds or words) in the correct way
  3. (tr; may take a clause as object) to proclaim officially and solemnlyI now pronounce you man and wife
  4. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to declare as one's judgmentto pronounce the death sentence upon someone
  5. (tr) to make a phonetic transcription of (sounds or words)
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Derived Formspronounceable, adjectivepronouncer, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Latin prōnuntiāre to announce, from pro- 1 + nuntiāre to announce
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pronouncer

pronounce

v.

early 14c., "to declare officially;" late 14c., "to speak, utter," from Old French prononcier "declare, speak out, pronounce" (late 13c., Modern French prononcer), from Late Latin pronunciare, from Latin pronuntiare "to proclaim, announce; pronounce, utter," from pro- "forth, out, in public" (see pro-) + nuntiare "announce," from nuntius "messenger" (see nuncio). With reference to the mode of sounding words or languages, it is attested from 1620s (but cf. pronunciation in this sense early 15c.). Related: Pronounced; pronouncing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper