Arlington is a proper noun used most often as a place name (e.g., Arlington, Virginia) or surname. It denotes a district or community and carries a neutral to formal tone in most contexts. The term blends a geographic identifier with a suffix indicating a settlement, and it is commonly invoked in discussions of location, history, or travel.
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US: rhotic /ɹ/ with a clear /ˈɑːɹlɪŋtən/. UK: non-rhotic or weaker r with /ˈɑːlɪŋtən/. AU: /ˈɑːlɪŋtən/ with similar US patterns but more vowel length differences and a softer r if present. Vowel focus: first syllable uses broad /ɑː/; middle uses short /ɪ/; final uses reduced /tən/ with a schwa. IPA references: US /ˈɑɹlɪŋtən/, UK /ˈɑːlɪŋtə n/, AU /ˈɑːlɪŋtə n/.
"We visited Arlington National Cemetery last weekend."
"The Arlington neighborhood has excellent coffee shops."
"Arlington, Virginia, is just a short Metro ride from downtown D.C."
"She traced her family roots to Arlington in the 19th century."
Arlington originates as a toponym combining the Old English elements earl-/a several related forms with the Old English -ingtun suffix, which denotes a settlement or farm associated with a group or family. The name likely derives from a personal name or a descriptor of the estate of a family named Earnl, Earle, or similar, tied to landholding in the Anglo-Saxon period. In medieval records, forms such as Arlingtone or Arlingtone appear, gradually evolving into the modern Arlington, used both as a place name and a surname. The widespread use in North America solidified with British colonization and subsequent American expansion, where Arlington villages and counties proliferated, and later, Arlington National Cemetery established at a strategic site near Washington, D.C., further popularized the form. The semantic drift moved from a generic “farmstead belonging to the people of Arling/-earl” to a recognizable proper noun used in municipal and familial identifiers. The pronunciation likely preserved the original stress pattern from its geographic roots, with a typical American inclination toward a lightly reduced second syllable and aFirm initial emphasis on the first syllable, reflecting typical English settlement names adopted in the United States.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "arlington" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "arlington" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "arlington"
-ing sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Arlington is pronounced with stress on the first syllable: /ˈɑːrlɪŋtən/ in US English, with a rhoticAmerican r. Break it into three sounds: AR-ling-ton. The first vowel is open and back; the -ling- uses a short i; the final -ton has a schwa in rapid speech. Think AR as in car, then LING as in king without the k, and TUN with a lighter schwa: /ˈɑːrlɪŋtən/. Audio reference: imagine saying “AR-ling-ton” with a clean, distinct first syllable.
Common mistakes include misplacing stress (putting emphasis on the second syllable AR-LING-ton instead of AR-ling-ton), pronouncing the middle 'ing' as a long 'ee' (AR-LEENG-ton), and dropping the final -ton consonant or the vowel (AR-ling-ton without the proper schwa). Correct by keeping stress on the first syllable, using a short i in -ling-, and finishing with a light, unstressed -tən (schwa). Practice slowly: /ˈɑːrlɪŋtən/.
In US English the pronunciation is /ˈɑːrlɪŋtən/ with a rhotic r and a clear schwa in the final syllable. In UK English you might hear /ˈɑːlɪŋtən/ with a slightly less rhotic r and a shorter schwa in -ton. Australian English is usually /ˈɑːlɪŋtən/ as well, with a broad but not strongly rolled r and similar vowel length. Across these accents, the main differences are rhoticity strength and vowel quality in the first and final syllables.
The difficulty lies in keeping a clean three-syllable structure while preserving the unstressed, reduced final -ton, and the palatalized -ling- cluster. English learners often mispronounce the middle syllable by lengthening -ling- or by shortening -ton, altering rhythm. Focus on maintaining a crisp first syllable stress, then a quick, short -ling-, followed by a soft, unstressed -tən.
Is the 'ar' in Arlington pronounced like the 'ar' in 'car' or is it more like a softened 'a' in 'arm'? Answer: It’s typically /ˈɑːr/ in American varieties, with a broad open back vowel, closer to the 'car' vowel, followed by an r-coloring. The first syllable 'Ar' should be stressed and clearly pronounced, as in AR-ling-ton.
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