English pronunciation · Words Starting with A

Ancient Pronunciation

Ancient is pronounced AYN-chuhnt, IPA /ˈeɪnʃənt/.

AYN-chuhnt

US /ˈeɪnʃənt/  ·  UK /ˈeɪnʃənt/

Syllables: AYN · chuhnt (2 syllables, stress on syllable 1)

adjective: Belonging to the distant past, or extremely old.

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Ancient in a Sentence

  • The site holds the remains of an ancient harbour.
  • He drives an ancient van held together with tape.
  • Ancient Greek is taught in the second year.

Common Mispronunciations of Ancient

Not AN-see-uhnt

The -cient ending is one squeezed chuhnt. Spreading it into see plus uhnt adds a beat.

Not an-SYENT

The first syllable is the long ay of pain, and it carries the whole word.

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