tilde

See also: Tilde and tildé

English

WOTD – 25 July 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish tilde, from Latin titulus (“superscript”) or from tildar. Doublet of titer/titre, title, titlo, tittle, and titulus. Compare Portuguese til.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪldə/, /ˈtɪldi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪldə

Noun

Unicode TILDE character, U+007E

tilde (plural tildes)

1. A diacritical mark ⟨˜⟩ placed above a letter to modify its pronunciation.
   1. In Spanish, ⟨ñ⟩ is a palatalized ⟨n⟩, for example in ⟨cañón⟩.
   2. In Portuguese, ⟨ã⟩ and ⟨õ⟩ are nasalized vowels, for example in ⟨canção⟩.
      • 2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 162:

        The tilde was used similarly in Portuguese on vowels to show that the letter bearing the tilde should be pronounced nasally.

   3. Another name for the Vietnamese tone mark dấu ngã, which is placed above a vowel to indicate a creaky rising tone (thanh ngã).
   4. Another name for apex, a curved diacritic used in the 17th century to mark final nasalization in the early Vietnamese alphabet. It was an adoption of the Portuguese tilde.
2. A symbol ⟨~⟩, with various names and uses, also known as swung dash or wave dash. In the computer industry, various other names may be used, such as squiggle and twiddle.
   • 1992, Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style:

     swung dash A stock keyboard character, used in mathematics as the sign of similarity (a ~ b) and in lexicography as a sign of repetition. The same sign has been used in symbolic logic to indicate negation, but to avoid confusion, the angular negation symbol (¬) is preferred. Not to be confused with the tilde.

   1. The character encoded as decimal 126 in the 1967 ASCII character set, and later in the 1992 Unicode character set.
   2. A punctuation mark that indicates range (from a number to another number). This use is common in Asia, where the symbol in this case is also called a wave dash.
   3. In lexicography, the ⟨~⟩ symbol is used used to indicate the repetition of the topical word or item. In this case, the symbol is also called a swung dash.
   4. May be used to represent approximation, in English prose and in mathematics. For example, “My dog weighs ~30 pounds.”
   5. (logic) An alternate form of the logical negation operator, which is usually written as ¬.

Historical notes

In reference works from the 1950's and earlier (i.e., pre-ASCII), the second meaning of the word “tilde” is not attested. For example, in The Oxford English Dictionary (1933) and Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary (1956), only the meaning of “tilde” as a diacritic is attested.

In the 1967 ASCII standard, the Tilde character was specified to look like a free-floating tilde diacritic (˜), and was intended to be used as a diacritic, by printing it over letters (using overprinting on a paper based computer terminal). In later years, the character was repurposed by users to serve as the symbol ⟨~⟩, and many fonts were changed to match this new de-facto definition. Hence, the word “tilde” entered English as a name for the ⟨~⟩ symbol.

Derived terms

• middle tilde
• overtilde
• undertilde
• zilde

Translations

diacritical mark

• Arabic: تِلْدَة f (tilda)
• Bulgarian: тилда f (tilda)
• Catalan: titlla (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ∼, ~ (zh), 波浪號 / 波浪号 (zh) (bōlànghào), 波浪符 (bōlàngfú), 波形號 / 波形号 (bōxínghào)

• Czech: vlnovka f, tilda f
• Danish: tilde (da) c
• Dutch: tilde (nl)
• Esperanto: tildo
• Estonian: tilde (et)
• Finnish: aaltoviiva (fi), tilde (fi)
• French: tilde (fr) m
• German: Schlangenlinie (de), Tilde (de) f
• Greek: περισπωμένη (el) f (perispoméni)
• Hebrew: גַּל (he) (gál), זַרְקָא (he) m (zarqá)
• Hungarian: hullámvonal (hu), tilde (hu), hullám (hu)
• Icelandic: bylgja (is) f
• Italian: tilde (it) f
• Japanese: チルダ (ja) (chiruda)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کەشە (ckb) (keşe)

• Macedonian: ти́лда f (tílda)
• Maori: tire
• Polish: tylda (pl) f
• Portuguese: til (pt) m
• Romanian: tildă (ro) f
• Russian: ти́льда (ru) f (tílʹda)
• Serbo-Croatian: tilda (sh) f
• Spanish: tilde (es) m or f, virgulilla (es) f
• Swedish: tilde (sv) n or c
• Ukrainian: ти́льда f (týlʹda)
• Vietnamese: dấu mềm
• Welsh: tild m

tone mark

• Vietnamese: dấu ngã (vi)

character

• Czech: vlnovka f
• Dutch: tilde (nl)
• Finnish: aaltoviiva (fi), tilde (fi)
• German: Tilde (de) f
• Greek: περισπωμένη (el) f (perispoméni)
• Macedonian: ти́лда f (tílda)
• Polish: tylda (pl) f
• Portuguese: til (pt) m
• Russian: ти́льда (ru) f (tílʹda)
• Spanish: tilde (es)
• Ukrainian: ти́льда f (týlʹda)
• Vietnamese: dấu sóng
• Welsh: tild m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} titlla (ca)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} tilde (nl)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} tilde

See also

• ASCII
• hyphen
• swung dash – Specific type of tilde, positioned in middle height of line.
• apex – visually similar diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that is often confused with the tilde
• ~

Anagrams

• lited, tiled

Asturian

Noun

tilde f (plural tildes)

1. (orthography) accent

Synonyms

• acentu

Crimean Tatar

Noun

tilde

1. locative singular of til

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

tilde

1. inflection of tillen:
   1. singular past indicative
   2. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive

Anagrams

• leidt

Finnish

Etymology

From Spanish tilde.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtilde/, [ˈt̪ilde̞]
• Rhymes: -ilde
• Hyphenation^(key): til‧de

Noun

tilde

1. tilde

Declension

Inflection of tilde (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		tilde	tildet
genitive		tilden	tildejen
partitive		tildeä	tildejä
illative		tildeen	tildeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tilde	tildet
accusative	nom.	tilde	tildet
	gen.	tilden
genitive		tilden	tildejen tildein rare
partitive		tildeä	tildejä
inessive		tildessä	tildeissä
elative		tildestä	tildeistä
illative		tildeen	tildeihin
adessive		tildellä	tildeillä
ablative		tildeltä	tildeiltä
allative		tildelle	tildeille
essive		tildenä	tildeinä
translative		tildeksi	tildeiksi
abessive		tildettä	tildeittä
instructive		—	tildein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tilde (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tildeni tildeni accusative nom. tildeni tildeni gen. tildeni genitive tildeni tildejeni tildeini rare partitive tildeäni tildejäni inessive tildessäni tildeissäni elative tildestäni tildeistäni illative tildeeni tildeihini adessive tildelläni tildeilläni ablative tildeltäni tildeiltäni allative tildelleni tildeilleni essive tildenäni tildeinäni translative tildekseni tildeikseni abessive tildettäni tildeittäni instructive — — comitative — tildeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tildesi tildesi accusative nom. tildesi tildesi gen. tildesi genitive tildesi tildejesi tildeisi rare partitive tildeäsi tildejäsi inessive tildessäsi tildeissäsi elative tildestäsi tildeistäsi illative tildeesi tildeihisi adessive tildelläsi tildeilläsi ablative tildeltäsi tildeiltäsi allative tildellesi tildeillesi essive tildenäsi tildeinäsi translative tildeksesi tildeiksesi abessive tildettäsi tildeittäsi instructive — — comitative — tildeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tildemme tildemme accusative nom. tildemme tildemme gen. tildemme genitive tildemme tildejemme tildeimme rare partitive tildeämme tildejämme inessive tildessämme tildeissämme elative tildestämme tildeistämme illative tildeemme tildeihimme adessive tildellämme tildeillämme ablative tildeltämme tildeiltämme allative tildellemme tildeillemme essive tildenämme tildeinämme translative tildeksemme tildeiksemme abessive tildettämme tildeittämme instructive — — comitative — tildeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tildenne tildenne accusative nom. tildenne tildenne gen. tildenne genitive tildenne tildejenne tildeinne rare partitive tildeänne tildejänne inessive tildessänne tildeissänne elative tildestänne tildeistänne illative tildeenne tildeihinne adessive tildellänne tildeillänne ablative tildeltänne tildeiltänne allative tildellenne tildeillenne essive tildenänne tildeinänne translative tildeksenne tildeiksenne abessive tildettänne tildeittänne instructive — — comitative — tildeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tildensä tildensä accusative nom. tildensä tildensä gen. tildensä genitive tildensä tildejensä tildeinsä rare partitive tildeään tildeänsä tildejään tildejänsä inessive tildessään tildessänsä tildeissään tildeissänsä elative tildestään tildestänsä tildeistään tildeistänsä illative tildeensä tildeihinsä adessive tildellään tildellänsä tildeillään tildeillänsä ablative tildeltään tildeltänsä tildeiltään tildeiltänsä allative tildelleen tildellensä tildeilleen tildeillensä essive tildenään tildenänsä tildeinään tildeinänsä translative tildekseen tildeksensä tildeikseen tildeiksensä abessive tildettään tildettänsä tildeittään tildeittänsä instructive — — comitative — tildeineen tildeinensä

Synonyms

• aaltoviiva

Further reading

• “tilde”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tild/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tilde m (plural tildes)

1. tilde

Further reading

• “tilde”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• délit, ledit

Interlingua

Noun

tilde

1. tilde

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtil.de/
• Rhymes: -ilde
• Hyphenation: tìl‧de

Noun

tilde m or f (plural tildi)

1. tilde (all senses)
2. (typography) tilde, squiggle

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtilde/ [ˈt̪il̪.d̪e]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ilde
• Syllabification: til‧de

Etymology 1

Deverbal from tildar or from Latin titulus, possibly through an Old Catalan or Old Provençal intermediate (accounting for the final -e instead of -o).

Noun

tilde f or (less commonly) m (plural tildes)

1. accent mark, i.e. acute accent

   Synonym: acento ortográfico

2. tilde

   Synonym: virgulilla

3. criticism, censure

Usage notes

• In Spanish, the term tilde refers to a diacritic in general (including the tilde on top of ñ) but it is primarily used to designate the acute accent, as in á. The term virgulilla is used to specifically refer to the tilde on top of ñ.

Derived terms

• atildar

 

Descendants

• → English: tilde
• → Japanese: チルダ (chiruda)
• → Polish: tylda
• → Russian: ти́льда (tílʹda)
• → Serbo-Croatian: ти̑лда / tȋlda
• → Turkish: tilde

See also

• acento diacrítico, when used to distinguish “el” from “él”, for instance

Etymology 2

Verb

tilde

1. inflection of tildar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “tilde”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish tilde, with semantic loan from English tilde.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtilde/ [ˈt̪il.d̪ɛ]
• Rhymes: -ilde
• Syllabification: til‧de

Noun

tilde (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜒᜎ᜔ᜇᜒ)

1. tilde
2. accent mark

   Synonym: tuldik

Further reading

• “tilde”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “tilde”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish tilde.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tilde]

Noun

tilde (definite accusative tildeyi, plural tildeler)

1. tilde

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	tilde
Definite accusative	tildeyi
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	tilde	tildeler
Definite accusative	tildeyi	tildeleri
Dative	tildeye	tildelere
Locative	tildede	tildelerde
Ablative	tildeden	tildelerden
Genitive	tildenin	tildelerin