apostrophe

1 of 2

noun (1)

apos·​tro·​phe ə-ˈpä-strə-(ˌ)fē How to pronounce apostrophe (audio)
: a mark ' used to indicate the omission of letters or figures, the possessive case (as in "John's book"), or the plural of letters or figures (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
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
By entering strings with specially positioned apostrophes into vulnerable website fields, attackers can execute code that performs various sensitive actions, including returning confidential data, giving administrative system privileges, or subverting how the web app works. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 26 Apr. 2024 Unfortunately, what appeared didn’t show an apostrophe between the last letter of the six-letter answer and the immediately following single letter. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2024 Editors’ Picks Over the years, apostrophes have been dropped from some British store names, such as one of Harrogate’s most famous shops, Bettys Café Tea Rooms, which removed its apostrophe decades ago. —Jenny Gross, New York Times, 10 May 2024 Soon after the new sign was erected, someone drew an apostrophe on it. —Jenny Gross, New York Times, 10 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for apostrophe 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'apostrophe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of apostrophe was in 1533

Dictionary Entries Near apostrophe

Apostolos

apostrophe

apostrophic

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Apostrophe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostrophe. Accessed 27 Jun. 2024.

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Kids Definition

apostrophe

1 of 2 noun
apos·​tro·​phe ə-ˈpäs-trə-(ˌ)fē How to pronounce apostrophe (audio)
: 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")

More from Merriam-Webster on apostrophe

Nglish: Translation of apostrophe for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of apostrophe for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about apostrophe

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