louvre
proper noun · the Louvre, the national art museum in Paris
- LOOluː (stressed)
- vruhvrə
- LOOluː (stressed)
- vruhvrə
- US /ˈluː.vrə/LOO-vruh Recorded voice
- UK /ˈluː.vrə/LOO-vruh Your device’s voice
How to pronounce louvre
The Louvre in Paris is pronounced LOO-vruh in English, with two syllables and the stress on LOO. Many speakers shorten it to one syllable, LOOV. The ordinary word louvre, a window slat, is different: LOO-ver in American English and LOO-vuh in British English.
- 2 syllables
- Stress on LOO
- Sounds like louver
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
Louvre has two pronunciations
the Louvre (museum) the national art museum in Paris
US /ˈluː.vrə/UK /ˈluː.vrə/LOO-vruh
louvre (slat) one of a set of sloping slats in a door or window
US /ˈluː.vɚ/UK /ˈluː.və/LOO-ver
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Cambridge and Oxford list only louvre, the slat. For the museum we used Dictionary.com (US /ˈluː.vrə/) and Collins (UK). The recording is American English.
Louvre, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
USUK American and British English/ˈluː.vrə/
LOOstressed
- /l/as in leg
- /uː/as in too
vruh
- /v/as in van
- /r/as in red
- /ə/as in about
Say louvre yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes louvre, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. Say V and R together, then a very light uh: vruh. Many people shorten the whole word to LOOV.
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louvre
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Common louvre pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say LOO-vruh.
Not
LOW-vruhReading ou as in loud. In this French name ou is the oo of food.
Not
LUV-ruhReading ou as in touch. Keep a long oo: LOO.
Not
loo-VRUHStressing the ending. The uh is only there to finish the VR, so keep it light.
Louvre in a sentence
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
We spent a whole day at the Louvre.
The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre.
The cupboard door has a louvre to let air in.
How do you say the Louvre museum in English?
The Louvre is a French name. In French it is one syllable, ending in a V and a French R. English words do not end in a VR cluster, so English speakers add a light uh: LOO-vruh. Many people simply say LOOV.
Cambridge and Oxford do not list the museum. Dictionary.com gives LOO-vruh for American English, and Collins gives a French-style form for British English. Both start with the oo of food, never the ow of loud.
With a small l, louvre is an ordinary noun: one of a row of sloping slats in a door or window. That word is said like an English word: LOO-ver in the US, where it is usually spelled louver, and LOO-vuh in the UK.
Words that sound like louvre
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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