apostrophe

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See also: Apostrophe and apostrophé

English

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WOTD – 13 February 2007

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From 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

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Noun

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apostrophe (plural apostrophes)

  2. (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
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  • In 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
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Translations
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See also
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Punctuation

Etymology 2

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From Latin apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “I turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “I turn”).

Noun

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apostrophe (countable and uncountable, plural apostrophes)

  2. (rhetoric) A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.
    • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC, page 28:
      Apostrophe a bold digression makes,
      Mov'd by some sudden thought the theme awakes.      ]
    • 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
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Translations
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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”).

Noun

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apostrophe f (plural apostrophes)

  1. (orthography) apostrophe
Descendants
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin apostropha, apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

Noun

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apostrophe f (plural apostrophes)

  1. (rhetoric) apostrophe
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Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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apostrophe

  1. inflection of apostropher:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Latin

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ, literally “a turning away”), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “I turn away”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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apostrophē f (genitive apostrophēs); first declension

  1. Alternative form of apostropha

Declension

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First-declension noun (Greek-type).

singular plural
nominative apostrophē apostrophae
genitive apostrophēs apostrophārum
dative apostrophae apostrophīs
accusative apostrophēn apostrophās
ablative apostrophē apostrophīs
vocative apostrophē apostrophae

References

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  • “apostrophe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • apostrophe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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