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

Example Sentences

Before you put in the order, send the wife a note explaining that you just realized that the apostrophe is in the wrong place and confirm that you, fortunately, caught it before it went to the printers.

From Washington Post

Edging in, it took nearly a minute before I could see the fungus at the center of all the fuss, a tiny ocher apostrophe hovering above the wet underbrush.

From Outside Online

Then, someone insisted that was wrong, so she taped over the “e” and added an apostrophe.

From Washington Post

That means you can spell a word like S’MORES, which involves an apostrophe, for example.

From TechCrunch

Ruderman, citing family reasons, eventually returned, and Osberg, Larry Platt and his apostrophe were unceremoniously removed.

From The Daily Beast

The no-apostrophe rule has been reaffirmed five times, yet punctuationists fight on.

From The Daily Beast

Jennifer Runyon, one of the name committee's three staffers, says: "We don't debate the apostrophe."

From The Daily Beast

Before she reached the house, Gouvernail had lighted a fresh cigar and ended his apostrophe to the night.

From Project Gutenberg

Apostrophe usage is not consistent in the text as in using both dont and dont.

From Project Gutenberg

In truth, there was good ground for his sorrowful apostrophe, for the scene was very painful to a high-minded witness.

From Project Gutenberg

It intentionally begins with an apostrophe, not an unmatched single quotation mark, and was left as originally printed.

From Project Gutenberg

S—A—R—, and so on, the thing ran, but the whole legend was complete before that apostrophe started into its place.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• detour
• footnote