Wordwyrt

devour

/dɪˈvaʊə/dih-VOW-ur
/dɪˈvaʊɚ/dih-VOW-ur

Meaningto swallow down

Common meaning: to eat up hungrily

‘down, away, off’ + ‘to swallow greedily’ → devour

Journey through time

  1. Latinvorō‘to swallow greedily’
  2. Old Frenchdevorersource
  3. Middle Englishdeuourensource
  4. Englishdevour‘to eat up hungrily’ · today

de- also in: deterdecampdecidededucedefame

vour also in: omnivorecarnivorevoraciousomnivorousherbivorous

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin vorō ‘to swallow greedily’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry vorō, p. 2014 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • vorō Latin “to swallow greedily”

Related words

carnivoreherbivorousomnivoreomnivorousvoracious

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