lisp
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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.
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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), [Alexander] 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