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

Index: Entry for borrowing, reference to kō missing the macron.

From The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by Scott, J.W. Robertson

The letter "m" with a macron have been replaced by "mm" as there is no unicode symbol or symbol combination to display this character satisfactorily.

From Aphrodisiacs and Anti-aphrodisiacs: Three Essays on the Powers of Reproduction by Davenport, John

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)

Double vowels representing a single long sound are rare except in a few names; the macron on the first “u” in “Tronhūus” is redundant.

From Three in Norway by Two of Them by Clutterbuck, Walter J.

Aside from Greek letters, the only special characters are a few scattered instances of the letters a, e, s, and z with a breve, and the letters a and u with a macron.

From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley