virgule

English

WOTD – 18 January 2009    

Etymology

From Latin virgula, diminutive of virga (“rod, branch”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈvəː.ɡjuːl/
• (US) IPA: /ˈvɝ.ɡjul/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

virgule (plural virgules)

1. (typography) The diagonal slash character - /, used to separate parts of text, and to represent the word per in expressions such as feet/second.

Translations

diagonal slash character

• Czech: lomítko (cs) n
• Finnish: vinoviiva (fi)

• Spanish: barra oblicua (es) f

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Czech

Etymology

From Latin virgula, diminutive of virga (“rod, branch”).

Noun

virgule f

1. divining rod

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French

Etymology

From Latin virgula, diminutive of virga (“rod, branch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /viʁ.ɡyl/, X-SAMPA: /viR.gyl/

• Audio (France)

  (file)

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Homophones: virgules, virgulent

Noun

virgule f (plural virgules)

1. comma (punctuation mark)
2. (mathematics) decimal point (see usage notes)

   En Europe continentale, la virgule permet de noter la partie décimale; pi vaut environ 3,1415. — In continental Europe, the comma is used to denote the decimal part; pi is about 3.1415.

Usage notes

• In France, a comma is used to separate the whole and decimal parts of a decimal, while a point (dot) is used to mark off thousands, the opposite notation to that used in English-speaking countries. So "100,000.9" ("one-hundred thousand point 9") is written in French as "100.000,9".
• In mathematics, the translation is "decimal point", but "comma" can be a more appropriate translation. For example, il y a trois décimales après la virgule translates as there are three decimal places after the decimal point, but En France, on sépare la partie entière et la partie décimale avec une virgule is better translated as In France, you separate the whole and decimal parts with a comma rather than ... with a decimal point, as the former explains which symbol is used and the latter is misleading.

Derived terms

• point-virgule
• virgule fixe
• virgule flottante
• à la virgule près

Verb

virgule

1. first-person singular present indicative of virguler
2. third-person singular present indicative of virguler
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of virguler
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of virguler
5. second-person singular imperative of virguler

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Jèrriais

Alternative forms

• virdgule

Etymology

From Latin virgula, diminutive of virga (“rod, branch”).

Noun

virgule f (plural virgules)

1. comma

Derived terms

• point virgule (“semicolon”)

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ˈvir.ɡu.le]

Noun

virgule f pl

1. Plural form of virgulă