Chapter 16 of The Wings of Icarus is here in full — 37 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Wings of Icarus is here in full — 37 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GRAYSMILL, November 8th. My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain. Is it cold with you also? The week has been a full one. Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
Chapter 16 of The Wings of Icarus is here in full — 37 sentences across 8 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/7 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a lake in southeastern Germany on the northern side of the Swiss Alps; forms part of the Rhine River
From this reading “My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.”
first in order of birth
From this reading “Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.”
plural of “festivity” — any joyous diversion
From this reading “Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.”
ranking above all others
From this reading “My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.”
the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid
From this reading “My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.”
possessive form of “george” — Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.”
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading “My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.”
the month following October and preceding December
From this reading “GRAYSMILL, November 8th.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GRAYSMILL, November 8th.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
in addition
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The week has been a full one.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
a lake in southeastern Germany on the northern side of the Swiss Alps; forms part of the Rhine River
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
a female human offspring
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
dearly loved
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
first in order of birth
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
a social unit living together
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
plural of “festivity” — any joyous diversion
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
ranking above all others
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
the withdrawal of heat to change something from a liquid to a solid
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading The week has been a full one.
possessive form of “george” — Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GRAYSMILL, November 8th.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The week has been a full one.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
joined in matrimony
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
the month following October and preceding December
From this reading GRAYSMILL, November 8th.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The week has been a full one.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading My little dear Constance, first and foremost I am freezing, and have got a red nose, I'm certain.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The week has been a full one.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading The week has been a full one.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
the day immediately before today
From this reading Uncle George's eldest daughter was married the day before yesterday, and there were great festivities in the family.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Is it cold with you also?
Chapter 16 of The Wings of Icarus by Laurence Alma-Tadema holds 37 sentences, grouped into 8 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 16 holds 37 sentences of The Wings of Icarus, unabridged, divided into 8 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Wings of Icarus by Laurence Alma-Tadema exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 37 sentences, grouped into 8 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 8 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 8 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 16 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Wings of Icarus by Laurence Alma-Tadema on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2158 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #17255 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #17255, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 179 minutes of reading across 432 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Wings of Icarus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Wings of Icarus to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Wings of Icarus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
