creäture

• enPR: krē.āʹtyo͝or, IPA^(key): /kɹiːˈeɪtjʊə/

creäture (plural creätures)

1. (dated, chiefly literary and philosophy) Alternative spelling of creature.

• Unlike any of its related terms, creature has not retained the original syllabic break between the ‘e’ and the ‘a’ (as “cre·ature”), having instead undergone synæresis. (However, considering that the modern vowel quality is not taken from the original stressed syllable, /eɪ̯/, it is arguably better characterized as an instance of spelling pronunciation whereby the ‘ea’ sequence was reinterpreted as standing for its more common usage, /iː/.) For this reason, its original sense of “something created” is not always evident to those who hear its modern, disyllabic pronunciation.
• Some authors and translators (especially of poetical works) write a diæresis atop the ‘a’, thereby specifying the original trisyllabic pronunciation, either for metrical reasons in poetry, or to remind the listener or reader of the original meaning of creature.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:creäture.

• ecarteur