tilde

American  

[til-duh] / ˈtɪl də /

noun

1. Phonetics, Orthography. a diacritic (~) placed over an n, as in Spanish mañana, to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel, as in Portuguese são, to indicate nasalization.

2. swung dash.

3. Mathematics. a symbol (∼) indicating equivalency or similarity between two values.

4. Logic. a similar symbol indicating negation.

---

tilde British  

/ ˈtɪldə /

noun

1. the diacritical mark (~) placed over a letter to indicate a palatal nasal consonant, as in Spanish señor. This symbol is also used in the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent any nasalized vowel

---

Etymology

Origin of tilde

1860–65; < Spanish < Latin titulus superscription. See title

Explanation

A tilde is a character on a keyboard that looks like a wavy line (~). The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters instead of the English 26, because it includes both n and ñ, each of which is pronounced differently. The tilde has other uses as well. It is a diacritical mark in other languages, such as Portuguese, but it is also used in logic and math. When you put a tilde before a number, for example, you're saying that the number is approximate. If you wanted to say that your club had about $1,500 in the bank, you could use a tilde to write that the club had ~$1,500.

Example Sentences

Education expert Dr Aliyu Tilde praised the reversal, saying Nigeria isn't ready for such a move.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2025

“We’ve accepted them despite the difficulties, because they’ve suffered in the bush,” says Fani Masao, Adjit’s best friend in Tilde.

From The Guardian • Feb. 1, 2018

The couple was comparatively happy in Tilde, but something was bothering Adjit.

From The Guardian • Feb. 1, 2018

Despite being welcomed in Tilde, and now having rescued her bed, Adjit plans to go home as soon as there is peace of a more lasting sort.

From The Guardian • Feb. 1, 2018

What kind of a mark is the Tilde?

From 1001 Questions and Answers on Orthography and Reading by Hathaway, B. A.