4 syllables: dor, mi, to, ries. Stress on dor.
DAWR-muh-taw-reez
/ˈdɔɹməˌtɔɹiz/
dormitories is pronounced DAWR-muh-taw-reez (/ˈdɔɹməˌtɔɹiz/). It has four syllables (dor-mi-to-ries), with the stress on "dor". Dormitories are large, shared sleeping facilities in institutions such as colleges or monasteries, typically housing many roommates in individual beds within a common room. The term emphasizes communal living spaces and organized sleeping quarters. In everyday use, it often contrasts with private bedrooms or apartments. The word combines the sense of dorm or sleeping with -itories indicating places.
Dormitories are large, shared sleeping facilities in institutions such as colleges or monasteries, typically housing many roommates in individual beds within a common room. The term emphasizes communal living spaces and organized sleeping quarters. In everyday use, it often contrasts with private bedrooms or apartments. The word combines the sense of dorm or sleeping with -itories indicating places.
- Misplacing stress: place primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the fourth to maintain rhythm. - Vowel reduction: avoid reducing /ə/ into a lax schwa too early; keep /ə/ in the second syllable steady. - Final consonant: ensure the final /z/ is voiced and not devoiced to /s/ in careful speech; practice with a minimal pair like /z/ vs /s/ in different contexts.
"The university announced it would renovate the old dormitories to provide better study lounges."
"Students lined up to pick keys and assign roommates in the new dormitories."
"The dormitories were quiet after curfew, with only the hum of air conditioning."
US: /ˈdɔːr.məˌtɔːr.iˌz/; UK: /ˈdɔː.mɪ.tɔː.riːz/; AU: /ˈdɔː.mɪ.tɔː.riːz/. Primary stress on the first syllable, secondary on the fourth; ensure the middle 'mā-' syllable clearly as /mə/. Break into dohr-mit-OR-eez with a light middle vowel. Listen for the final /-z/ as a voiced alveolar fricative rather than a /s/ or /dz/ sound.
Mistakes: treating the first vowel as a short /ɒ/ as in ‘cot’; pronouncing the third syllable as /tə/ too weakly, leading to /ˈdɔːr.məˈtɔː.ri.əs/; or flattening the final /ɪz/ into /iːz/. Corrections: use /ˈdɔːr.məˌtɔːr.iˌz/ with a clear /ə/ in the second syllable, keep the /tɔːr/ cluster distinct, and end with a crisp /-ɪz/.
US typically has /ˈdɔːr.məˌtɔːr.iˌz/ with rhotic /r/ in all relevant positions; UK may be /ˈdɔː.mɪ.tɔː.riːz/ with a shorter second syllable and a longer final vowel in some speakers; Australian commonly mirrors UK but can show a more centralized /ə/ in the second syllable and a non-rhotic approach in careful speech, though Australia is often rhotic in connected speech.
The difficulty lies in multi-syllable rhythm and the two-stress pattern across four syllables, plus the cluster /tɔːr/ and the final voiced s /-z/. The mid vowels /ə/ and /ɪ/ can wobble in quick speech, and non-rhotic speakers may de-emphasize the /r/ in the first and second syllables. Practice helps stabilize the vowel qualities and the consonant transitions between syllables.
Yes. The sequence /-tɔr.i.iz/ can be mis-specified as /-tɒr.i.əs/ or /-tɔr.i.z/. The fourth syllable often carries the primary or secondary stress depending on rapid vs. careful speech. Emphasize the syllabic separation: dohr-muh-TO-reez with a crisp /z/ ending and a clear /r/ in rhotic dialects.
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- US: rhotic, keep /r/ pronounced in all relevant syllables; ensure /ɔː/ in the first syllable is long and open. - UK: shorter second syllable, finalize with /riːz/ or /riːz/ depending on speaker; avoid over-rolling /r/. - AU: tends toward non-standard /r/ realizations in casual speech; keep attention on the final /z/ and the /t/ cluster; use IPA comparisons to monitor vowel height and quality.
Dormitory comes from the Latin dormitorium, from dormire ‘to sleep.’ The form is influenced by a vowel shift and the suffix -tory or -itorium, a Latinizing agent denoting a place. The first part, dorm-, traces to the verb dormire ‘to sleep,’ used in medieval and early modern Latin to denote sleeping spaces or beds within a building. In English, dormitory appeared in the 16th to 17th centuries, denoting a room or building where many students slept. The plural dormitories developed as a straightforward English pluralization with -ies to -ories following the Latin pluralization patterns in English borrowings of -itory nouns. The meaning consolidated in the 19th and 20th centuries as formalized shared student housing in universities. The term has since broadened to secular or secularly similar shared sleeping facilities in other institutions like boarding schools and monasteries. Its usage has remained relatively stable in American English and is common in UK contexts with a slight stylistic preference for “dormitories” over “dorms,” which are the informal plural form for dormitory space. First known use in English reflects the wartime and educational reforms expanding dormitory-style housing.
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Words that rhyme with "dormitories"
-ies sounds
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