Alimony is a financial support payment ordered by a court to be paid to a former spouse after a divorce or separation. It is typically awarded to help the lower‑earning spouse maintain a similar standard of living and may be temporary or permanent, depending on jurisdiction. The term is commonly used in legal and family law contexts.
"After the divorce, she received alimony to help cover living expenses while she re‑established her career."
"The court granted alimony for five years."
"Some jurisdictions require both spouses to contribute to alimony if one earns significantly less."
"He argued that alimony was no longer necessary after his ex-wife remarried."
Alimony comes from the Latin word alimonia, meaning nourishment or sustenance, which itself derives from alere, meaning to nourish. The word entered English legal usage through Romance languages, with early forms in Old French as alimonie and Italian alimanzia, both referring to sustenance provided to a dependent person. In legal contexts, it evolved from generic
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Words that rhyme with "Alimony"
-ney sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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You pronounce it as ə- l-uh-MOH-nee with primary stress on the second syllable: al-i-MO-ny. IPA US: ˌæləˈmoʊni; UK: ˌæləˈmoʊni. Start with a schwa, then light 'l', then a stressed 'mo' syllable, and end with 'ni'.
Common errors: stressing the first syllable (AL-i-mo-nee) instead of the second; mispronouncing the second syllable vowel as an 'uh' rather than 'oʊ'; eliding the middle syllable. Correction: keep the weak first syllable with a quick, reduced vowel, place primary stress on MO, use a clear long 'oʊ' in MOʊ, and ensure the final 'ni' is a clean 'ni' not ‘nee’.
US tends to ˌæləˈmoʊni with a clear rhotic American 'r' absent here, stress on the second syllable MO. UK often ˌælɪˈmoʊni or ˌæləˈmoʊni with a shorter first vowel and stronger syllable emphasis on MO. Australian typically ˌæləˈmoʊni with broader vowels and less pronounced rhoticity in connected speech; vowel length in MO is noticeable.
The challenge lies in the multi-syllabic structure with secondary stress on the first or second syllable, plus a long 'oʊ' in the third syllable. The 'li' can be mispronounced as 'lee' instead of a reduced /lə/ sequence. Practice breaking it into syllables: al-uh-MO-ni, ensuring the stressed MO has a long oʊ vowel and the final syllable ends with /ni/ rather than /niː/.
The word has a secondary stress pattern in many dialects: looser vowel in the first syllable and a strong primary stress on MO. Avoid conflating the middle 'i' with a long 'ee' as in ‘alimony’; instead keep the 'i' as a short, reduced /ɪ/ or /ə/ before the strong MO. Emphasize the syllable timing: quick-al-uh-MO-ni with the main weight on MO.
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