4 syllables: Du, o, den, um. Stress on o.
doo-AH-duh-nuhm
/duˈɑdənəm/
Duodenum is pronounced doo-AH-duh-nuhm (/duˈɑdənəm/). It has four syllables (Du-o-den-um), with the stress on "o". Duodenum is the first section of the small intestine, connecting the stomach to the jejunum. It plays a key role in digestion by mixing chyme with bile and pancreatic fluids. The term denotes a C-shaped, 25–30 cm segment where acid neutralization and enzymatic activity begin before nutrient absorption continues further along the gut.
nounDuodenum is the first section of the small intestine, connecting the stomach to the jejunum. It plays a key role in digestion by mixing chyme with bile and pancreatic fluids. The term denotes a C-shaped, 25–30 cm segment where acid neutralization and enzymatic activity begin before nutrient absorption continues further along the gut.
"The patient underwent a scan to assess inflammation in the duodenum."
"Researchers studied how ulcers form in the duodenum after long-term NSAID use."
"A surgical procedure targeted the duodenum to bypass obstructed regions."
US: /ˌduː.oʊˈdiː.nəm/ or /ˌduː.əˈdiː.nəm/. UK: /ˌdjuː.əˈdiː.nəm/. AU: /ˌdjuː.əˈdiː.nəm/. The primary stress is on the third syllable, di-, with a secondary stress on the first syllable in many medical pronunciations. Start with a long
Common errors: 1) misplacing the stress, saying du-o-DEN-um; 2) mispronouncing the second syllable as /di/ instead of /də/ in rapid speech; 3) merging vowels too aggressively, giving /duːˈdiːnəm/ without the schwa in the second syllable. Correction: keep the second syllable reduced /də/ and clearly articulate /ˈdiː/ with a short pause before the final /nəm/.
US tends to have a clearer /ˌduːoʊˈdiːnəm/ with late primary stress on di-; UK often treats the sequence as /ˌdjuː.əˈdiː.nəm/ with less vowel reduction; AU commonly emphasizes the first syllable and may glide the /ju/ more, sounding closer to /ˌdjuː.əˈdiː.nəm/. Rhoticity doesn’t heavily affect this word, but vowel quality and the /ju/ onset vary.
Difficult due to combining a 'duo' sound with 'den' and a final 'um' with a schwa. The cluster /ˌduː.əˈdiː.nəm/ requires precise syllable timing: stressed /diː/ and a reduced /ə/ in the middle. Also, the 'duo' leading sequence can be misheard as /duːˈdoʊ/ if not careful. Focus on the three stressed segments and the final nasal.
A distinctive feature is the unstressed schwa in the second syllable (the /ə/ in /ˌduː.əˈdiː.nəm/). This reduced vowel is easy to omit in careful speech, but in accurate pronunciation you maintain it as a light vowel before the long /diː/ syllable. Keeping the schwa helps sustain the word’s natural cadence and prevents compression of adjacent syllables.
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US: rhotic, enjoy clearer /ɹ/ mid-vowel adjustments; UK/AU: non-rhotic or reduced rhotics, watch the /j/ onset in /djuː/ vs /duː/; Vowel quality varies: US may lengthen /uː/; UK often /djuː/; AU tends to a brisk /ˌdjuː.əˈdiː.nəm/ with a slightly flatter /ə/.
Duodenum derives from Latin duodenum, formed from duo- meaning two and Greek odoun, hodon meaning appetite, or from Greek odounos meaning a teet, with the sense that the duodenum marks the first part of the small intestine beyond the stomach. The term was adopted in anatomical nomenclature in the 17th–18th centuries as Latinized descriptions proliferated in European medical texts. Historically, anatomists used duodenum to indicate the binging of two anatomical ideas: the curvature of the gut and its proximity to the stomach, with early references emphasizing its C-shaped loop. Over time, duodenum came to specify the first intestinal segment beginning at the pylorus and ending at the jejunum, and the name has persisted in modern anatomy as the standard term for this short, initial conduit for chyme and digestive secretions.
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Words that rhyme with "Duodenum"
-ox) sounds
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