dixnary

English

Alternative forms

dic'snary, dicksnary, dixery, dixonary

Etymology

A syncopic form of a pentasyllabic pronunciation of dictionary (approximately /ˈdɪksɪ.ʊˌnæːɹɪ/); compare the development of merlin from Middle English merlioun.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪks(ə)nəɹi/, /ˈdɪks(ə)ɹi/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪks(ə)ˌnɛɹi/, /ˈdɪksəɹi/, /ˈdɪkˌsɛɹi/
(Early Modern English) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪks(ʊ)ˌnæːɹɪ/, /ˈdɪks(ʊ)ˌnɛːɹɪ/

Noun

dixnary (plural dixnaries)

(obsolete) Pronunciation spelling of dictionary.
- [1696 [1676], Edward Young, “The difference of Writing”, in Compleat English Scholar […] ‎, 12th edition, London: Thomas Guy, page 78:
  de-ſi-er deſire / dix-na-ry dictionary / di-viſ-yun diviſion]
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Chiswick Mall”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 2:
  "MISS JEMIMA!" exclaimed Miss Pinkerton, in the largest capitals. "Are you in your senses? Replace the Dixonary in the closet, and never venture to take such a liberty in future.".
- 1891 February 11, James Russell Lowell, “To Mrs. L. Stephen”, in Charles Eliot Norton, editor, Letters of James Russell Lowell‎, volume II, New York: Harper & Brothers, published 1894, page 433:
  But it is well for him to get away from the Dixery. I hate to think of his giving his life for the lives of fellows of whom we were blessedly ignorant ; they were most of them dead or damned , and we hoped we were rid of 'em.
- 1905 May 5, A Constan' Rayder, “More Postcards: The Southmolton Division”, in Devon And Exeter Gazette, volume CXXXIII, number 18238, Exeter: G.F. Gratwick, page 11:
  An' her tull'th me these yer Debben talk is a prapper langwige, an that all tha gentlevoks ust ta spaik like us do now, that "thicky" an "nort" wiz quite prapper wurds, and her zed her zeed "orts" in a ole dicksnary she wiz raydin.
- 1932 July 13, Virginia Woolf, edited by Anne Olivier Bell, The diary of Virginia Woolf, volume 4, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1980, page 116:
  Yes, but then the triumph of learning is that it leaves something done solidly for ever. Everybody knows now about dialect, owing to his dixery [Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary].
(India) Misspelling of dictionary.

Usage notes

The trisyllabic pronunciation that this term represents was current before this spelling is attested (see Richard Snary), but by the 19th century, it had fallen out of use in standard speech; a further nonstandard development is represented by the form dixery, only attested in jocular use by speakers of standard English.[1][2]

References

“Dictionary” in John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1791, →OCLC, page 46: “A few years ago this word was univerſally pronounced as if written Dixnary, and a person would have been thought a pedant if he had pronounced it according to its orthography […] ”.
Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 307, page 876.

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[1] “Dictionary” in John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1791, →OCLC, page 46: “A few years ago this word was univerſally pronounced as if written Dixnary, and a person would have been thought a pedant if he had pronounced it according to its orthography […] ”.

[2] Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 307, page 876.