2 syllables: Rhom, bus. Stress on Rhom.
RAHM-buhs
/ˈrɑmbəs/
Rhombus is pronounced RAHM-buhs (/ˈrɑmbəs/). It has two syllables (Rhom-bus), with the stress on "Rhom". Rhombus is a four-sided polygon with opposite sides parallel and equal in length, forming two equal pairs of opposite angles. It is a type of parallelogram where all sides are of equal length, giving a diamond-like shape. In geometry, it’s often treated as a special case of a parallelogram with symmetric properties and diagonals that bisect at right angles.
nounRhombus is a four-sided polygon with opposite sides parallel and equal in length, forming two equal pairs of opposite angles. It is a type of parallelogram where all sides are of equal length, giving a diamond-like shape. In geometry, it’s often treated as a special case of a parallelogram with symmetric properties and diagonals that bisect at right angles.
"The architect drew a rhombus to represent a diamond-shaped element in the floor plan."
"In geometry class, we proved that a rhombus has perpendicular diagonals and opposite sides that are parallel."
"The logo design features a stylized rhombus as a modern, geometric motif."
Rhombus is pronounced with two syllables: RHOM-bus. Primary stress on the first syllable. In IPA: US /ˈrɑːm.bəs/ or /ˈrɒm.bəs/; UK/AU commonly /ˈrɒm.bəs/. The first vowel is a short to mid back rounded vowel; ensure the /mb/ sequence is a single cv, not two separate sounds. Think rhyming with ‘bombus’ minus the buster sound; keep the /m/ immediately before the /b/ sound without a vowel in between. You’ll hear a crisp /m/, then a light /b/ transitioning into the schwa or short /ə/ in ‘bus.’ Audio references: try Cambridge or Oxford dictionaries for native pronunciation samples.
Common errors include saying ‘rom-bus’ with a long o as in ‘rom’ and inserting a vowel between /m/ and /b/ (e.g., /ˈrɒm ə bəs/). Another frequent issue is misplacing the stress or mispronouncing the /mb/ cluster as separate consonants (e.g., /ˈrɒm.məs/). To correct: keep the /mb/ sequence tight, avoid adding a vowel between /m/ and /b/, and maintain primary stress on the first syllable with a clean /ɒ/ or /ɑː/ depending on accent.
In US English, /ˈrɑːm.bəs/ or /ˈrɒm.bəs/ shows a broad /ɑː/ or /ɒ/ in the first syllable, with a non-rhotic? US rhoticity is not relevant here because /r/ surfaces in most American pronunciations; in word-initial stressed syllables, you’ll hear a strong /r/. UK English tends toward /ˈrɒm.bəs/ with a shorter /ɒ/ and a crisper /m/ cluster. Australian English aligns with UK values but often vowels are broader, so you may hear /ˈrɒm.bəs/ as well, with a slightly more centralized /ɒ/ depending on speaker. The /mb/ cluster remains intact in all, and final /əs/ often reduces to /əs/ in casual speech.
The difficulty lies in the /mb/ cluster after a stressed syllable, which can be misheard or mispronounced as /m/ + /b/ with an intervening vowel. Speakers may shorten or modify the first vowel (American /ɑː/ vs. British /ɒ/), or mis-handle the glottal tension around the /b/ transitioning into /əs/. Focus on keeping the /mb/ as a tight digraph, avoid inserting extra vowels, and maintain the two-syllable rhythm with stress on the first syllable. IPA cues: /ˈrɒm.bəs/ (UK/AU) vs. /ˈrɑːm.bəs/ (US).
A useful Rhombus-specific note is to avoid pronouncing it like ‘rhombie’ or ‘rhum-bus.’ The correct onset uses a clear rhotic onset in US speakers when the /r/ is pronounced, and the following /ɒ/ or /ɑː/ should be crisp, not merged with an /l/ or /w/. Remember that the second syllable begins with /b/ immediately after the /m/, creating the /mb/ cluster. The first syllable’s pitch often carries a subtle fall into the second, which helps avoid monotone delivery, especially in technical contexts.
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Rhombus comes from the Greek word ῥόμβος (rhombos) meaning ‘spinning, tilting, something that gnaws,’ though in geometric use, it was adapted to describe a diamond-shaped quadrilateral. The term entered English through mathematical/geometry texts in the 16th–17th centuries as scholars translated Greek geometers’ works. It eventually supplanted earlier terms like rhomboid in common usage, though rhomboid remains a technical synonym in some disciplines. The word’s pronunciation and spelling reflect its Greek origin, with the initial rh- cluster and the -bus ending aligning with classical Greek transliteration. The concept of a rhombus, as a parallelogram with equal sides, was studied extensively in the 19th century as Euclidean geometry expanded into education and engineering, cementing the term in standard mathematical lexicon. First known English attestations appear in scholarly texts around the 1590s, with broader popular usage growing in the 18th and 19th centuries as geometry curricula expanded globally.
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Words that rhyme with "Rhombus"
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