Home › Glossary › Letter A

Adhem

Historical Figure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The surname in Leigh Hunt's poem "Abou Ben Adhem"; the protagonist's full name is Abou Ben Adhem, and the poem emphasizes his spiritual and compassionate nature, making him a symbolic figure of divine love.

Detailed Definition
Adhem is the final element of the poem’s title character’s name. Because it is a proper name in a literary context, readers may need to look it up or recognize it as part of the character’s identity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Abou Ben Adhem is the central figure in Leigh Hunt’s “Abou Ben Adhem”; “May his tribe increase!” is the poem’s parenthetical blessing; Adhem’s name is paired with his generous wish to be written as one “that loves his fellow-men”; The figure lets Hunt make charity, rather than status, the measure of devotion
Additional Notes
The quoted title contains "Adhem" as a proper name, which is unfamiliar to many readers and not ordinary vocabulary.; Found in the poem, Abou Ben Adhem by Leigh Hunt
Also Known As
noble illustrious
Skip to main content