lisp
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word lisp. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word lisp, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say lisp in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word lisp you have here. The definition of the word lisp will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oflisp, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English lispen, lipsen, wlispen, from Old English *wlispian (attested in āwlyspian (“to lisp”)), from Old English wlisp, wlips (“stammering, lisping”, adj), from Proto-Germanic *wlispaz (“lisping”), from Proto-Indo-European *wlis-, *wleys- (“rod”), from *wel- (“to turn, roll”). Cognate with Middle Low German wlispen (“to lisp”), Dutch lispen (“to lisp”), German lispeln (“to lisp”), Danish læspe (“to lisp”), Swedish läspa (“to lisp”).
Pronunciation
- Standard: IPA(key): /lɪsp/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Humorous:
- Rhymes: -ɪsp
Noun
lisp (plural lisps)
- The habit or an act of lisping.
- He used to have a terrible lisp before going to a speech therapist.
- It's common for children to speak with a lisp.
Derived terms
Translations
The habit or an act of lisping.
|
Verb
lisp (third-person singular simple present lisps, present participle lisping, simple past and past participle lisped)
- To pronounce the consonant ‘s’ imperfectly; to give ‘s’ and ‘z’ the sounds of ‘th’ (/θ/, /ð/). This is a speech impediment common among children.
- Until the age of 10, Dominic would lisp, but this was fixed by a speech therapist.
- To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, such as a child learning to talk.
- 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: J Wright for Lawton Gilliver , →OCLC, page 7, lines 122–123:
- As yet a Child, nor yet a Fool to Fame, / I liſp'd in Numbers, for the Numbers came.
- (archaic) To speak hesitatingly and with a low voice, as if afraid.
- 1597, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “ (please specify the subtitle)”, in Poems: , London: [Valentine Simmes] for N Ling, published 1605, →OCLC:
- Lest when my lisping, guilty tongue should halt.
- (archaic) to express by the use of simple, childlike language.
- 1830, Mary Russell Mitford, “Cottage Names”, in Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery, volume IV, London: Whittaker, Treacher, & Co., , →OCLC, page 68:
- But the fashion spreads deeper and wider; the village is infected and the village green; Amelias and Claras sweep your rooms and cook your dinners, gentle Sophias milk your cows, and if you ask a pretty smiling girl at a cottage door to tell you her name, the rosy lips lisp out Caroline.
- 1848, Henry Walter, editor, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures:
- to speak unto them after their own capacity, and to lisp the words unto them , according as the babes and children of that age might sound them againagain
- (archaic) To speak with reserve or concealment; to utter timidly or confidentially.
- to lisp treason
- 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
- "You have done well, sir," said Delwood, calmly, as he placed double the amount of Mrs. Santon's bribe in the Signor's hand; "you have done well, sir; and mark my words,—gold can never relieve a guilty conscience! Go, sir, and see that you lisp not a syllable of this to any one."
Derived terms
Translations
to pronounce the sibilant letter ‘s’ imperfectly
to speak with imperfect articulation
to speak hesitatingly and with a low voice