diacritic

English

WOTD – 6 March 2006

A capital A with a diacritic above ‹Á›

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-European *dwísder.

Ancient Greek διά (diá)

Ancient Greek δῐᾰ- (dĭă-)

Proto-Indo-European *krey-

Proto-Indo-European *krinyétider.

Proto-Hellenic *kríňňō

Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω (krī́nō)

Ancient Greek κρῐ- (krĭ-)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek κρῐτής (krĭtḗs)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós)

Ancient Greek κρῐτῐκός (krĭtĭkós)

Ancient Greek δῐᾰκρῐτῐκός (dĭăkrĭtĭkós)lbor.

English diacritic

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek διακριτικός (diakritikós, “distinguishing, separative”), from διακρῑ́νω (diakrī́nō, “to distinguish, separate”), from δια- (dia-, “between”) + κρῑ́νω (krī́nō, “I separate, distinguish”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/, [ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪɾɪk]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌdɑɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/, [ˌdɑɪəˈkɹɪɾɪk]

Adjective

diacritic (comparative more diacritic, superlative most diacritic)

1. Distinguishing.
2. (orthography, not comparable) Denoting a distinguishing mark applied to a letter or character.

Synonyms

• diacritical

Translations

distinguishing — see diacritical

denoting a distinguishing mark — see diacritical

Noun

diacritic (plural diacritics)

1. A special mark added to a letter to indicate a different pronunciation, stress, tone, or meaning.

   Synonyms: diacritical, diacritical mark

   Hyponyms: accent, accent mark (synonymous in loose usage); cedilla, diaeresis, röck döts, tilde, tone mark, umlaut

2. (more loosely) A letter added to another letter serving a similar indicative function.
   • 1965, Arne Zettersten, Studies in the dialect and vocabulary of the Ancrene Riwle (Lund Studies in English; 31), Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup, page 173:

     A notable feature in N is the frequent oa spellings […] The a is here a diacritic which is meant to distinguish /ɔ̄/ from /ō/ on the model of the distinction ea /ǣ/—e /ē/ in the AB texts.

Derived terms

• diacritical
• diacritically
• diacriticked
• diacriticless

Translations

diacritical mark — see diacritical mark

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “diacritic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “diacritic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• diacritic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• triacidic

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French diacritique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdi.aˈkri.tik/

Adjective

diacritic m or n (feminine singular diacritică, masculine plural diacritici, feminine/neuter plural diacritice)

1. diacritic, diacritical

Declension

Declension of diacritic

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	diacritic		diacritică		diacritici	diacritice
	definite	diacriticul		diacritica		diacriticii	diacriticele
genitive- dative	indefinite	diacritic		diacritice		diacritici	diacritice
	definite	diacriticului		diacriticei		diacriticilor	diacriticelor

Noun

diacritic n (plural diacritice)

1. diacritic

   Synonym: semn diacritic

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	diacritic	diacriticul		diacritice	diacriticele
genitive-dative	diacritic	diacriticului		diacritice	diacriticelor
vocative	diacriticule			diacriticelor