apostrophe
English
editPronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈpɒs.tɹə.fi/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /əˈpɑs.tɹə.fi/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Etymology 1
editFrom French apostrophe, or Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “I turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
Alternative forms
editNoun
editapostrophe (plural apostrophes)
- (orthography) The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.
- 2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 30:
- Since its inception the apostrophe has been a controversial piece of punctuation.
Usage notes
editIn English, the apostrophe is used to mark the possessive (e.g., “my friend’s wife”), and to show the omission of letters (e.g., “my friend’s angry”) or of numbers (e.g., "during the 1960s and ’70s").
Derived terms
editTranslations
edit
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See also
edit- apostrophe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- apostrophe ( ' ) ( ’ )
- curly brackets or braces (US) ( { } )
- square brackets or brackets (US) ( [ ] )
- colon ( : )
- comma ( , )
- dashes ( ‒ ) ( – ) ( — ) ( ― )
- ellipsis ( … )
- exclamation mark ( ! )
- fraction slash ( ⁄ )
- guillemets ( « » ) ( ‹ › )
- hyphen ( - ) ( ‐ )
- interpunct ( · )
- interrobang (rare) ( ‽ )
- brackets or parentheses (US, Canada) ( ( ) )
- full stop or period (US, Canada) ( . )
- question mark ( ? )
- quotation marks (formal) ( ‘ ’ ‚ ) ( “ ” „ )
- quotation marks (informal, computing) ( " ) ( ' )
- semicolon ( ; )
- slash or stroke (UK) ( / )
- space ( ] [ )
Etymology 2
editFrom Latin apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “I turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “I turn”).
Noun
editapostrophe (countable and uncountable, plural apostrophes)
- (rhetoric) A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.
- 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 139:
- The warm apostrophe of Riccardini to this little representative of his parents, whom he called "the son of his love, the child of his old age, the gift of his beloved niece, on the behalf of his angel-daughter," affected them all;...
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
edit
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Anagrams
editFrench
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /a.pɔs.tʁɔf/
- Homophones: apostrophent, apostrophes
Audio: (file)
Etymology 1
editFrom Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”).
Noun
editapostrophe f (plural apostrophes)
Descendants
edit- → English: apostrophe
- → Romanian: apostrof
- → Russian: апо́строф (apóstrof)
- → Azerbaijani: apostrof
- → Turkish: apostrof
Etymology 2
editBorrowed from Latin apostropha, apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
Noun
editapostrophe f (plural apostrophes)
Related terms
editEtymology 3
editSee the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
editapostrophe
- inflection of apostropher:
Further reading
edit- “apostrophe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Orthography
- English terms with quotations
- English uncountable nouns
- en:Rhetoric
- en:Diacritical marks
- en:Punctuation marks
- en:Typography
- en:Talking
- en:Figures of speech
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- French terms with audio links
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Orthography
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- fr:Rhetoric
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms