macron

American  

[mey-kron, mak-ron] / ˈmeɪ krɒn, ˈmæk rɒn /

noun

Phonetics, Orthography.

1. a horizontal line used as a diacritic over a vowel to indicate that it has a long sound or other specified pronunciation, as (ā) in fate (fāt).

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macron British  

/ ˈmækrɒn /

noun

1. a diacritical mark (¯) placed over a letter, used in prosody, in the orthography of some languages, and in several types of phonetic respelling systems, to represent a long vowel

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Etymology

Origin of macron

1850–55; noun use of Greek makrón, neuter of makrós long. See macro-

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

macron

Use of the macron is not consistent throughout the text... ...and the spelling of some place names is not consistent either: e.g.

From A Peep into Toorkisthhan by Burslem, Rollo Gillespie

Editorial note: Long s's have been turned into s's, and the occasional use of a macron over a vowel to express a following n or m has been replaced with the following n or m.

From The Bride by Potter, Alfred Claghorn

This book contains Greek and other characters, including an e with caron, ě, and vowels with macron, ī and ō.

From Witch, Warlock, and Magician Historical Sketches of Magic and Witchcraft in England and Scotland by Adams, W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport)

There are also single instances of the letters m and x with macron and two instances of letter n with macron.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Dearmer, Percy

The letter e with a macron is represented as ē.

From Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House), Retold from the Japanese Originals Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 2 by De Benneville, James S. (James Seguin)