apostrophe

¹

[ uh-pos-truh-fee ]

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.

apostrophe

²

[ uh-pos-truh-fee ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

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?”

apostrophe

¹

/ 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

apostrophe

²

/ əˈpɒstrəfɪ; ˌæpəˈstrɒfɪk /

noun

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

apostrophe

1. 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 ).

Derived Forms

• apostrophic, adjective

Other Words From

• ap·os·troph·ic [ap-, uh, -, strof, -ik, -, stroh, -fik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of apostrophe¹

1580–90; < Middle French (with pronunciation later altered by confusion with apostrophe ² ), 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; strophe

Origin of apostrophe²

1525–35; < Late Latin < Greek apostrophḗ a turning away, equivalent to apostroph- (verbid of apostréphein; apostrophe ¹ ) + -ē noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of apostrophe¹

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

Origin of apostrophe²

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

Related Words

• detour
• footnote