SINCE 1828
diaeresis
noun
di·aer·e·sis
| \ dī-ˈer-ə-səs
, British also -ˈir-\
, British also -ˈir-\
variants:
or dieresis
plural diaereses\ dī-ˈer-ə-ˌsēz
, British also -ˈir- \
, British also -ˈir- \
Definition of diaeresis
1
: a mark ¨ placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable (as in naïve or Brontë) — compare umlaut
2
: the break in a verse caused by the coincidence of the end of a foot with the end of a word
Other Words from diaeresis
diaeretic
\ ˌdī-ə-ˈre-tik
\
adjective
\
adjective
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Last Updated
23 Apr 2019
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The first known use of diaeresis was circa 1611
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