Meanings
- human sciencesThe form of pronunciation of the English language traditionally spoken by the educated classes of the south-east of England, considered to be a standard (see received) for British English and used as such in the pronunciation schemes of most British dictionaries.
Synonyms: BBC English, King's English, Queen's English, RP
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe form of pronunciation of the English language traditionally spoken by the educated classes of the south-east of England, considered to be a standard (see received) for British English and used as such in the pronunciation schemes of most British dictionaries.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe approved pronunciation of British English; originally based on the King's English as spoken at public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities (and widely accepted elsewhere in Britain); until recently it was the pronunciation of English used in British broadcasting
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Commonly attributed to Alexander John Ellis but already used earlier.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 公認發音 /公认发音
- 公認發音 /公认发音 (gōngrèn fāyīn)form of English pronunciation
Danish Dronningens engelsk, korrekt engelsk
- Dronningens engelskform of English pronunciation
- korrekt engelskform of English pronunciation
- højengelskform of English pronunciation
- britisk engelskform of English pronunciation
- Oxford-engelskform of English pronunciation
Dutch Received Pronunciation
- Received Pronunciationform of English pronunciation
Estonian kuninganna inglise keel
- kuninganna inglise keelform of English pronunciation
Finnish kuningattaren englanti
- kuningattaren englantiform of English pronunciation
German Schulenglisch, Britisches Englisch
- Schulenglischform of English pronunciation
- Britisches Englischform of English pronunciation
Italian Received Pronunciation
- Received Pronunciationform of English pronunciation
Japanese 容認発音
- 容認発音 (yōnin hatsuon)form of English pronunciation
Portuguese Received Pronunciation
- Received Pronunciationform of English pronunciation
Russian «общепри́нятое произноше́ние», «при́нятое произноше́ние»
- «общепри́нятое произноше́ние»form of English pronunciation
- «при́нятое произноше́ние»form of English pronunciation
- станда́ртное англи́йское произноше́ние (standártnoje anglíjskoje proiznošénije)form of English pronunciation
Spanish pronunciación recibida
- pronunciación recibidaform of English pronunciation
Cite this entry
Received Pronunciation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Received%20Pronunciation
“Received Pronunciation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Received%20Pronunciation. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Received Pronunciation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Received%20Pronunciation.
Source: Received Pronunciation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.