apostrophe
/əˈpɒs.tɹə.fi//əˈpɑs.tɹə.fi/
apostrophe noun: the text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.
Noun (1)
apostrophe (plural apostrophes)
- The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.
- Since its inception the apostrophe has been a controversial piece of punctuation.2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 30
Noun (2)
apostrophe (countable and uncountable, plural apostrophes)
- A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.
- Apostrophe a bold digression makes,
Mov'd by some sudden thought the theme awakes.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Apostrophe.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 28 - The warm apostrophe of Riccardini to this little representative of his parents, whom he called "the son of his love, the child of his old age, the gift of his beloved niece, on the behalf of his angel-daughter," affected them all;...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 139
- Apostrophe a bold digression makes,
Noun (3)
apostrophe
- An arrangement of chlorophyll grains perpendicular to the outer surface of plant cells, as opposed to epistrophe (an arrangement on the outer surface).
- As is well known, chloroplast in the epistrophe position presents an oval or more or less circular form; in the apostrophe position a flattened and lenticular form.1905 September 8, Harold Wager, “On Some Problems of Cell Structure and Physiology”, in English Mechanics and the World of Science, volume 82, number 2111, page 105
apostrophe meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
apostrophe in Hindi
- the character ’
- एपोस्ट्रोफ़ी eposṭrofī, अपोस्ट्रॉफ़ी aposṭrŏfī
apostrophe in Tamil
- உடைமைக் குறி
apostrophe in Urdu
- the character ’
- اَپاسْٹْرافی apāsṭrāfī
apostrophe in Bengali
- the character ’
- ঊর্ধকমা urdhokma
More languagesFewer languages
- apostrophe in Telugu
- ఉత్ప్రేక్ష utprēkṣa
- apostrophe in Malayalam
- വിശ്ലേഷം viślēṣaṁ
- apostrophe in Kannada
- ಅಪಾಸ್ಟ್ರಫಿ
- apostrophe in Sinhala
- උඩු කොමා uḍu komā
- apostrophe in Tagalog
- kudlit
- apostrophe in Arabic
- فَاصِلَة عُلْيَا fāṣila ʕulyā, اِلْتِفَات iltifāt
- apostrophe in Malay
- tanda penyingkat
- apostrophe in Indonesian
- tanda penyingkat
- apostrophe in Thai
- อะพอสทรอฟี à-pɔ́ɔs-trɔɔ-fîi
- apostrophe in Vietnamese
- dấu lược
Forms of apostrophe
| plural | apostrophes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | apostrophë |
| alternative form | apostrophy |
Origin of apostrophe
From French apostrophe, or Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
From Latin apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
Words formed from apostrophe
- apologetic apostrophe
- apostrophectomy
- apostrophed
- apostropheless
- apostrophise
- curly apostrophe
- greengrocers' apostrophe
- greengrocer's apostrophe
- idiot's apostrophe
- printer's apostrophe
- rogue apostrophe
- straight apostrophe
- typewriter apostrophe
- typographical apostrophe
- typographic apostrophe
- vertical apostrophe
- apostrophic
- apostrophically
- apostrophize
Questions about apostrophe
- What does apostrophe mean?
- Apostrophe means the text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.
- What is apostrophe in Hindi?
- Apostrophe in Hindi is एपोस्ट्रोफ़ी (eposṭrofī), अपोस्ट्रॉफ़ी (aposṭrŏfī). See Apostrophe meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is apostrophe?
- Apostrophe is a noun.
- How do you pronounce apostrophe?
- Apostrophe is pronounced /əˈpɒs.tɹə.fi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of apostrophe?
- The plural of apostrophe is apostrophes.
Words near apostrophe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: apostrophe (page history and authors); apostrophe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ఉత్ప్రేక్ష (Telugu) (page history and authors); apostrophe (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-apostrophe.wav, en-us-apostrophe.ogg, en-au-apostrophe.ogg.
Cite this entry: “apostrophe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/apostrophe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.