diacritic

[ dahy-uh-krit-ik ]

noun

1. Also called diacritical mark. a mark, point, or sign added or attached to a letter or character to distinguish it from another of similar form, to give it a particular phonetic value, to indicate stress, etc., as a cedilla, tilde, circumflex, or macron.

adjective

1. diacritical.
2. diagnostic.

diacritic

/ ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪk /

noun

1. Also calleddiacritical mark a sign placed above or below a character or letter to indicate that it has a different phonetic value, is stressed, or for some other reason

adjective

1. another word for diacritical

Word History and Origins

Origin of diacritic¹

First recorded in 1670–80; from Greek diakritikós “able to distinguish, distinguishing,” equivalent to dia- dia- + kritikós; critic

Word History and Origins

Origin of diacritic¹

C17: from Greek diakritikos serving to distinguish, from diakrinein, from dia- + krinein to separate

Example Sentences

The Vietnamese language is written with marks — diacritics — that represent different tones.

From Salon

Bold, bright letters decorated with the diacritics that denote tones in the Vietnamese language advertised the dishes on sale.

From New York Times

He originally spelled Ikea with an acute accent on the “e,” but dropped the fake diacritic in the 1960s.

From Washington Post

Exclamation points, interrobangs and innumerable French diacritics were all part of his patois.

From New York Times

A trema is a diacritic mark that consists of two dots and is placed over a letter, “naïve” in the strip.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• lone
• original
• particular
• personal
• respective
• separate
• single
• singular
• sole
• special
• specific