umlaut

American  

[oom-laut] / ˈʊm laʊt /

noun

• umlauts
  plural

1. Phonetics, Orthography. a diacritic (¨) used over a vowel, as ä, ö, ü, to indicate a vowel sound different from that of the letter without the diacritic, especially as so used in German.

2. Also called vowel mutation. Linguistics, Phonetics. (in Germanic languages) assimilation in which a vowel is influenced by a following vowel or semivowel.

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verb (used with object)

1. Linguistics, Phonetics. to modify by umlaut.

2. Phonetics, Orthography. to write an umlaut over.

umlaut British  

/ ˈʊmlaʊt /

noun

1. the mark (¨) placed over a vowel in some languages, such as German, indicating modification in the quality of the vowel Compare diaeresis

2. (esp in Germanic languages) the change of a vowel within a word brought about by the assimilating influence of a vowel or semivowel in a preceding or following syllable

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• umlauts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of umlaut

1835–45; < German, equivalent to um- about, around + Laut sound

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Explanation

If you've ever studied German, you've seen an umlaut. It's a mark that looks like two dots over a letter, and it signifies a shift in pronunciation. Properly speaking, only German and Hungarian words have these two dots over a vowel to indicate a change in sound (as in doppelgänger and über), but loosely, people sometimes refer to its twin, the dieresis (as in naïve) as an umlaut. The word is German and means "change of sound," from um, "about," and laut, "sound."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

umlaut umlauts

Trying to get my lips and tongue from the ge- to the umlaut, then back around to the -lichkeit was, frankly, too much.

From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2025

His English was poor, though he had just sacrificed an umlaut in his surname in deference to American spelling.

From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2023

"Across all categories we see the system becoming more mature and stable", said Hakan Ekman, one of the study's authors. umlaut conducted a similar ranking in 2020 in California.

From Reuters ● Jan. 31, 2022

Yes, with an umlaut, though SNI is based in Bensalem, Pa., outside Philadelphia.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 8, 2019

The presence of a Hunnish umlaut over the u adds insult to injury!

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft

But as he hurled his partner high above the ice, he was thrown off balance by grammar and umlauts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

The Reuters wire service was unable to operate in Germany until 1881 because umlauts couldn’t be transmitted in Morse code.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2018

Not the tune itself, so much—John Legend’s marble-mouthed way of making all vowels partial umlauts turned the anthem into an accidental art song.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 3, 2016

He became besties with Diplo and Skrillex — together “Jack Ü” — and they made an excellent song together, “Where Are Ü Now,” irksome umlauts notwithstanding.

From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2016

Written Astrolinguish was awash in diacritical marks, with lots of umlauts, accents, and tildes.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

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