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altar

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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

A raised table or platform used in religious worship for offerings, sacrifice, prayer, or ritual; it often symbolizes devotion and sacred presence.

Detailed Definition
An altar is a sacred table or platform associated with religious ritual. Here it stands at the center of the valley’s silence, making the landscape feel like a chapel or shrine.
Example
Example in poetry:
An altar rises white beneath the chapel's candle smoke; “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,” turns the body toward a spiritual altar; She makes an altar of photographs, salt, and a grandmother's ring; The empty altar asks what sacrifice a nation remembers
Additional Notes
In "An altar rises white," altar is a specialized religious term that may need identification in a poetic context.; Found in the poem, The Valley of Silence by Fiona Macleod
Other Meanings of “altar”
Also Known As
sanctuary shrine altar of sacrifice sacred space Chancel
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