apostrophe

1
[ uh-pos-truh-fee ]
See synonyms for apostrophe on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.'s, 3's.

Origin of apostrophe

1
1580–90; <Middle French (with pronunciation later altered by confusion with apostrophe2), replacing earlier apostrophus<Late Latin (>Middle French ) <Greek apóstrophos (prosōidía) eliding (mark), literally, (mark) of turning away, verbid of apostréphein to turn away, equivalent to apo-apo- + stréphein to turn; see strophe

Other words from apostrophe

  • ap·os·troph·ic [ap-uh-strof-ik, -stroh-fik], /ˌæp əˈstrɒf ɪk, -ˈstroʊ fɪk/, adjective

Words Nearby apostrophe

Other definitions for apostrophe (2 of 2)

apostrophe2
[ uh-pos-truh-fee ]

nounRhetoric.
  1. a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as “O Death, where is thy sting?”

Origin of apostrophe

2
1525–35; <Late Latin <Greek apostrophḗ a turning away, equivalent to apostroph- (verbid of apostréphein;see apostrophe1) + noun suffix

Other words from apostrophe

  • ap·os·troph·ic [ap-uh-strof-ik, -stroh-fik], /ˌæp əˈstrɒf ɪk, -ˈstroʊ fɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use apostrophe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for apostrophe (1 of 2)

apostrophe1

/ (əˈpɒstrəfɪ) /


noun
  1. the punctuation mark ' used to indicate the omission of a letter or number, such as he's for he has or he is, also used in English to form the possessive, as in John's father and twenty pounds' worth

Origin of apostrophe

1
C17: from Late Latin, from Greek apostrophos mark of elision, from apostrephein to turn away

British Dictionary definitions for apostrophe (2 of 2)

apostrophe2

/ (əˈpɒstrəfɪ) /


noun
  1. rhetoric a digression from a discourse, esp an address to an imaginary or absent person or a personification

Origin of apostrophe

2
C16: from Latin apostrophē, from Greek: a turning away, digression

Derived forms of apostrophe

  • apostrophic (ˌæpəˈstrɒfɪk), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for apostrophe

apostrophe

[ (uh-pos-truh-fee) ]


A mark (') used with a noun or pronoun to indicate possession (“the student's comment,” “the people's choice”) or in a contraction to show where letters have been left out (isn't, don't, we'll).

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.