Home › Glossary › Letter F

fringéd

Archaic Terms
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

Having a fringe or border. The spelling with an accent mark is poetic and old-fashioned.

Detailed Definition
"Fringéd" is an archaic or poetic spelling of fringed, used to fit the meter and elevate the tone. Poe uses it to describe the lid or edge in a highly stylized way. The form itself is unusual enough that readers may notice it as literary diction.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Above the closed and fringéd lid” uses the grave accent to preserve three syllables, fring-ed; Keats writes of “fringed lids” in sensuous description; “fringéd curtains stirred” signals an older, metrically careful spelling; Read fringéd as two syllables when the meter requires it.
Additional Notes
"fringéd" is an unusual poetic spelling in the line "closed and fringéd lid’Neath," so readers may pause even if they know the base word.; Found in the poem, The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe
Also Known As
fringed bordered adorned decorated rimmèd
Skip to main content