Phrase guide

Mary-marry-merry merger

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • mâr′ē măr′ē mĕr′ē mûr′jər without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • US: /ˈmeɹi ˈmæɹi ˈmɛɹi ˌmɝd͡ʒɚ/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • US: non-Mmmm Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈmɛɹi ˈmɛɹi ˈmɛɹi ˌmɝd͡ʒɚ/ US, Canada, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɛəɹi ˈmæɹi ˈmɛɹi ˌmɜːd͡ʒə/
  • British, Southern, Standard: [ˈmɛːɹɪj ˈmaɹɪj ˈmɛɹɪj ˌməːd͡ʒə]
  • Scotland: /ˈmeɾe ˈmaɾe ˈmɛɾe ˌmɛɾd͡ʒəɾ/
  • Australian: /ˈmeːɹi ˈmæɹi ˈmeɹi ˌmɜːd͡ʒə/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈmeə̯ɹi ˈmɛɹi ˈmeɹi ˌmøːd͡ʒɘ/ without the cheer–chair merger
  • /ˈmiə̯ɹi ˈmɛɹi ˈmeɹi ˌmøːd͡ʒɘ/ New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
  • /ˈmeɹi ˈmæɹi ˈmʌɹi ˌmɝd͡ʒɚ/ Philadelphia, merry–Murray merger
  • /ˈmɜːɹɪ ˈmaɹɪ ˈmɛɹɪ ˌmɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒə(ɹ)/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger
  • India: /ˈmæriː ˈmæriː ˈmeriː ˌmɜːrd͡ʒɜr/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A phonemic merger where the vowels in "mare", "pat", "pet" (usually pronounced mâr, păt, pĕt respectively) are pronounced the same before r, making "Mary", "marry", "merry" homophones.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.