Library / English Dictionary

DIACRITIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation

Synonyms:

diacritic; diacritical mark

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("diacritic" is a kind of...):

mark (a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "diacritic"):

accent; accent mark (a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation)

breve (a diacritical mark (U-shaped) placed over a vowel to indicate a short sound)

cedilla (a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced as an s)

circumflex (a diacritical mark (^) placed above a vowel in some languages to indicate a special phonetic quality)

hacek; wedge (a diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above certain letters (such as the letter c) to indicate pronunciation)

macron (a diacritical mark (-) placed above a vowel to indicate a long sound)

tilde (a diacritical mark (~) placed over the letter n in Spanish to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel in Portuguese to indicate nasalization)

umlaut (a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel to indicate a change in sound in some languages)

diaeresis; dieresis (a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel to indicate that it does not form a diphthong with an adjacent vowel)

Derivation:

diacritic; diacritical (capable of distinguishing)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Capable of distinguishing

Example:

the diacritic elements in culture

Synonyms:

diacritic; diacritical

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

discriminating (showing or indicating careful judgment and discernment especially in matters of taste)

Derivation:

diacritic (a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation)

Credits