pronounce

[pruh-nouns]

verb (used with object), pro·nounced, pro·nounc·ing.

to enunciate or articulate (sounds, words, sentences, etc.).
to utter or sound in a particular manner in speaking: He pronounces his words indistinctly.
to utter or articulate in the accepted or correct manner: I can't pronounce this word.

to declare (a person or thing) to be as specified: She pronounced it the best salmon she had ever tasted.
to utter or deliver formally or solemnly: to pronounce sentence.
to announce authoritatively or officially: The judge pronounced the defendant guilty.
to indicate the pronunciation of (words) by providing a phonetic transcription: This dictionary pronounces most of the words entered.

verb (used without object), pro·nounced, pro·nounc·ing.

to pronounce words, phrases, etc.
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.
to give an opinion or decision (usually followed by on): to pronounce on an important matter.
to indicate the pronunciation of words: a spelling book that pronounces.

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

Related Words for pronouncing

utter, speak, assert, deliver, proclaim, sound, stress, vocalize, accent, enunciate, articulate, verbalize, say, voice, phonate, decree, drum, affirm, call, judge

Examples from the Web for pronouncing

Contemporary Examples of pronouncing

And by pronouncing other cultures and political systems “evil,” there was the assurance that America was good.
How Obama's Shallow Worldview Failed Us
Stuart Stevens
August 29, 2014
Williams showed off her best dance moves after pronouncing, without a hint of irony, “‘Flawless’ by Beyoncé!”
Game of Thrones: Sex, Swords, and Dragons at a Fans’ Night Out
Scott Bixby
March 21, 2014
I loved how he could make the word “public” rhyme with “subject” just by pronouncing it differently.
Big Daddy Kane: The Hip-Hop MC on Las Supper, Madonna, Jay-Z, and What’s Next
Curtis Stephen
April 16, 2013
Pronouncing illegality, governments will often undertake demolitions of slum houses.
They All Fall Down: The Perils of Mumbai Housing
Dilip D’Souza
April 12, 2013
No surprise that the occasion served as a way for Arabs pronouncing on America yet again.
The Ways of American Memory
Fouad Ajami
September 12, 2011

Historical Examples of pronouncing

I cannot do more to-day,' and, pronouncing a general benediction, he returned to the bench.
Father Sergius
Leo Tolstoy
Oh, how tedious it was, pronouncing word after word, and giving their definitions!
Pretty Madcap Dorothy
Laura Jean Libbey
Our wireless experts agreed in pronouncing the theory absurd.
The Destroyer
Burton Egbert Stevenson
I perceived he was incapable of pronouncing a word from the excess of his humiliation.
Lord Jim
Joseph Conrad
"I am aware whom I am speaking to," added he, pronouncing my name.
Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. II (of II)
Edmund Downey

British Dictionary definitions for pronouncing

pronounce

verb

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

Derived Formspronounceable, adjectivepronouncer, noun

Word Origin for pronounce

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 pronouncing

pronounce

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.