apostrophe

1 of 2

noun (1)

apos·​tro·​phe ə-ˈpä-strə-(ˌ)fē 

: a mark ' used to indicate the omission of letters or numerals, the possessive case (as in "John's book"), or sometimes the plural of letters or numerals (as in "the 1960's")

In the contraction "can't," the apostrophe replaces two of the letters in the word "cannot."

apostrophe

2 of 2

noun (2)

: the addressing of a usually absent person or a usually personified thing rhetorically

Thomas Carlyle's "O Liberty, what things are done in thy name!" is an example of apostrophe.

Examples of apostrophe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

While other Super Tuscans are practically household names among wine collectors, Ca’Marcanda’s flagship blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, Camarcanda (without the apostrophe), seems to fly under the radar. —Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2025

The 2026 tour for Lifes Rich Pageant — never an apostrophe and never an explanation — will kick off February 11 in Denver and run through March 16 in Bloomington, IN. —Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2025

Kraft further modernized the Barneys image by being instrumental in renaming the store from Barney’s, to Barneys New York (without the apostrophe). —David Moin, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2025

The soft drink that lost its apostrophe since it was launched got a shot in the arm, 159 years after its debut, when state. —Carol Cain, Freep.com, 27 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from French & Late Latin; French, borrowed from Late Latin apostrophus, apostrophos "mark placed above a consonant to indicate that a following vowel has been deleted," borrowed from Greek apóstrophos (feminine noun, presumably shortened from the collocation apóstrophos prosōidía, with prosōidía in sense "accent mark"), from apóstrophos, adjective, "turned away, averted," derivative of apostréphein "to turn back, turn away" — more at apostrophe entry 2

Note: The sources of English apostrophe imply that the word would have been pronounced with three syllables, but pronunciation with four syllables, copying apostrophe entry 2, was general by at least the time of the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition (1885). An early occurrence in Shakespeare's Love's Labor Lost, 1598 ("You finde not the apostraphas, and so misse the accent") is apparently directly from Latin. The motivation for the sense "turned away, averted" is uncertain. Classical scholia explain apóstrophos variously as referring to the bent shape of the mark, or to its function as averting hiatus (see W. S. Allen, Vox Graeca, second edition, Cambridge, 1974, p. 94; according to Allen, "the latter explanation seems the more probable").

Noun (2)

borrowed from Latin apostropha, borrowed from Greek apostrophḗ "turning back or away, (in rhetoric) turning away from a group of hearers to a single person," noun derivative of apostréphein "to turn back, turn away, avert," from apo- apo- + stréphein "to turn, twist" — more at strophe

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1705, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1533, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

apostrophe

1 of 2 noun

apos·​tro·​phe ə-ˈpäs-trə-(ˌ)fē 

: the addressing of an absent person as if present or of a personified thing (as in "O grave, where is thy victory?")

apostrophe

2 of 2 noun

: a mark ' used to show that letters or figures are missing (as in can't for cannot or '76 for 1776) or to show the possessive case (as in Steven's) or the plural of letters or figures (as in "cross your t's")