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espy

Archaic Terms
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

To catch sight of or notice someone or something, often suddenly or from a distance; an archaic verb that can lend elevated diction to poetry.

Detailed Definition
This is an older literary verb meaning to see or spot something, often with a sense of sudden discovery. In older poetry and narrative verse, it appears where modern English would usually say “saw” or “noticed.”
Example
Example in poetry:
“An old man they did espy” retains the archaic verb for “see” or “catch sight of”; “From the ridge we espied the sea before dawn”; “I espied one bright window in the ruined town”; “The scout espies a hawk above the smoke”
Additional Notes
The verb in “they did espy” is archaic and less familiar than modern “saw” or “noticed.”; Found in the poem, The Pardoner's Tale by Richard
Also Known As
glimpse observe catch sight of detect
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