3 syllables: En, treat, y. Stress on treat.
en-TREE-tee
/ɛnˈtɹiti/
Entreaty is pronounced en-TREE-tee (/ɛnˈtɹiti/). It has three syllables (En-treat-y), with the stress on "treat". Entreaty is a formal plea or earnest request, often made to persuade or appeal to someone. It conveys a stronger, more urgent tone than a simple request, typically used in literature or formal dialogue. As a noun, it denotes the act or instance of entreating, sometimes with a sense of supplication or petition.
nounEntreaty is a formal plea or earnest request, often made to persuade or appeal to someone. It conveys a stronger, more urgent tone than a simple request, typically used in literature or formal dialogue. As a noun, it denotes the act or instance of entreating, sometimes with a sense of supplication or petition.
"She made an entreaty to the council for mercy and reconsideration."
"Facing the jury, his entreaty was clear: spare the child’s life."
"The ambassador’s entreaty was delivered with solemn, respectful language."
Pronounce as en-TRE-a-ty, with primary stress on the second syllable. IPA: US/UK/AU ɪnˈtriːti. Start with a short, unstressed 'in' followed by a clear, long 'TRE' with /iː/ then a light 'ti' ending. Mouth position: start with relaxed lips, raise the tongue for the tense /triː/ sequence, then finish with a soft club of /ti/. Listening reference: you can compare to nearby words like 'entry' and 'tentree-tee' (note the -tee ending isn’t pronounced like 'tea' but as a light 'tee' syllable).
Common errors: (1) stressing the first syllable as in en-TRI-a-ty; correct to en-TRE-a-ty with primary stress on the second syllable. (2) Reducing the /riː/ sequence to a short /ri/; use a long /iː/ to match the 'trea' vowel. (3) Dropping the final -y or mispronouncing it as 'ee' or 'eye'; pronounce as -ty with a light 'ee' quality. Practice by isolating /ˈtriː/ and ensuring the final /ti/ is brief but audible.
Across US/UK/AU, the core stress remains on the second syllable: en-TRE-a-ty. US typically preserves the long /iː/ in the /triː/ portion, while non-rhotic UK accents may reduce some vowel coloration in rapid speech but keep the long /iː/ sound. Australian pronunciation shares rhotic tendencies with US but often features a slightly more centralized or reduced final vowel; keep the /ti/ ending crisp. Overall, the primary difference is in vowel quality and rhythm, not the basic syllable structure.
Difficulties center on the long tense vowel in /tɹiː/ and the two adjacent consonants, which can blur in fast speech. The sequence /triː/ requires a clean tongue elevation for /t/ and /r/ before the long /iː/. The unstressed first syllable 'en' can reduce to a quick schwa in casual speech, but careful enunciation helps keep the second syllable prominent. Practicing the three-syllable rhythm helps stabilize the accent.
A distinctive feature is the strong secondary syllable nucleus on 'TRE' when spoken in careful, formal diction: en-TRE-a-ty. The combination of a clear /t/ plus /r/ immediately before a long /iː/ is a key marker that listeners associate with this word, especially in read-aloud or ceremonial contexts. Emphasize the 'TRE' cluster slightly more than typical unstressed syllables to avoid truncation of the long vowel.
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US: rhotic, clearer /r/ and stable /iː/; UK: non-rhotic tendency may soften r before vowels; AU: vowel quality closer to US but with subtle centralized vowel heights. Vowel notes: /ɪn/ often reduced to schwa in rapid speech; ensure /triː/ has a long, tense /iː/. Consonants: /t/ crisp, /r/ rolled or approximant depending on accent. IPA anchors: US/UK/AU share /ɪnˈtriːti/; adapt lip rounding and tongue height slightly to match accent.
Entreaty comes from the Old French entremettre, later entremettre, meaning to negotiate, plead, or intervene. The root enter- means ‘between’ and mettre means ‘to put’ or ‘to place,’ reflecting a sense of placing a request between parties or between action and outcome. In Middle English, entreaty evolved to denote a formal appeal or supplication. By the 14th–15th centuries, it often appeared in literary and religious contexts as a solemn pleading or exhortation. The shifting usage moved from a general negotiation to a specific act of earnest begging or urging, while the word retained its formal, somewhat archaic tone in modern English. First known uses surface in medieval texts where envoys or supplicants urged monarchs or councils to grant mercy or favorable terms. Today, entreaty remains a literary or ceremonial word, most commonly found in formal rhetoric, religious discourse, or historical narratives. Its pronunciation and spelling have remained relatively stable, with emphasis typically on the second syllable: en-TREa-ty.
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Words that rhyme with "Entreaty"
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