diacritic

[ dahy-uh-krit-ik ]

See synonyms for diacritic on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

Origin of diacritic

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

Words Nearby diacritic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use diacritic in a sentence

A flat wick should be slightly rounded, the middle being the highest point, like this diacritic , not this one.
The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping | Elizabeth Hale Gilman
This script, with its diacritic marks, was scientifically evolved at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1 | Henry Baerlein
Errors in German phrases and the diacritic of "Lige" were not corrected.
Behind the Scenes in Warring Germany | Edward Lyell Fox
Please note that the original diacritic mark, believed to be a short up tack, is unable to be represented in html.
Little Jeanne of France | Madeline Brandeis

British Dictionary definitions for diacritic

diacritic

/ (ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪk) /

noun

Also called: diacritical 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

another word for diacritical

Origin of diacritic

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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