diacritical

[dahy-uh-krit-i-kuhl]

adjective

1. serving to distinguish; distinctive.

2. capable of distinguishing.

3. Phonetics.,  serving as a diacritic.

diacritical

/ ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪkəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a diacritic

2. showing up a distinction

Other Word Forms

• diacritically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of diacritical¹

First recorded in 1740–50; diacritic + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Yes, plenty of people, upon hearing the biggest music announcement of the year, started thinking about diacritical marks and then talking about them on social media.

Read more on New York Times

Out of respect for the previously banned Hawaiian language, we are using diacritical marks in this column that more accurately convey meaning and pronunciation.

Read more on Seattle Times

Note: The Vietnamese words in the original version of this essay used diacritical marks.

Read more on New York Times

Vowels were in the main not written as letters, but added as diacritical marks as in Arabic.

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Related How to type special characters on a Windows 10 PC Use the touch keyboard The easiest way to add diacritical marks to a document is to enable the Windows touch keyboard.

Read more on The Verge