dieresis
Americannoun
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Linguistics, Phonetics. the separation of two adjacent vowels, dividing one syllable into two.
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Phonetics, Orthography. a diacritic (¨) placed over the second of two adjacent vowels to indicate separate pronunciation, as in one spelling of the older forms naïve and coöperate: no longer widely used in English.
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Prosody. the division made in a line or verse by coincidence of the end of a foot and the end of a word.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dieresis
1605–15; < Latin diaeresis < Greek diaíresis literally, distinction, division, equivalent to diaire-, stem of diaireîn to divide ( di- di- 3 + haireîn to take) + -sis -sis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At "anapest" it was a noticeable frown, at "apothem" it became very pronounced, and at "dieresis" his shaggy red brows nearly covered his eyes, he was frowning so hard.
From Mike Flannery On Duty and Off by Butler, Ellis Parker
Since the ligatures “æ” and “œ” are used consistently, dieresis in “oe” and “ae” can be assumed even when not explicitly indicated.
From The Metamorphoses of Ovid Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes and Explanations by Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas)
Iäsion and Iänthe are regularly written with dieresis, while Iarbas, Iapyx, Iapygia are written without.
From The Metamorphoses of Ovid Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes and Explanations by Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas)
Since the ligatures “æ” and “œ” are used consistently, dieresis can be assumed even when not explicitly indicated.
From The Metamorphoses of Ovid Vol. I, Books I-VII by Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas)
The New Yorker’s pages, with their diereses, are “exactingly, but eccentrically, punctuated,” and a choice sentence from Elizabeth Hardwick is “perfectly weighted.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
