Definition of Diacritic

1. Noun. A mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation.

Exact synonyms: Diacritical Mark
Generic synonyms: Mark
Specialized synonyms: Accent, Accent Mark, Breve, Cedilla, Circumflex, Hacek, Wedge, Macron, Tilde, Diaeresis, Dieresis, Umlaut
Derivative terms: Diacritical

2. Adjective. Capable of distinguishing. "The diacritic elements in culture"
Exact synonyms: Diacritical
Similar to: Discriminating

Definition of Diacritic

1. a. That separates or distinguishes; -- applied to points or marks used to distinguish letters of similar form, or different sounds of the same letter, as, ā, ă, ä, ō, &obreve;, etc.

Definition of Diacritic

1. Adjective. distinguishing ¹

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

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

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Diacritic

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Diacritic

1. Diacritical Distinguishing; diagnostic; allowing of distinction. Origin: G. Diakritikos, able to distinguish (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Diacritic

diachylum
diacid
diacidic
diacids
diaclasis
diacodium
diacodiums
diaconal
diaconate
diaconates
diacoustic
diacoustics
diacranterian
diacrinous
diacrisis
diacritic (current term)
diacritical
diacritical hook
diacritical hooks
diacritical mark
diacritical marks
diacriticked
diacritics
diacrylate
diacrylates
diact
diactine
diactinic
diactivated
diacyl

Literary usage of Diacritic

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Public School Methods (1921)
"diacritic Marks. Introduce diacritic marks during the first year, ... diacritic marks for equivalents may be wholly omitted in the first and second years, ..."

2. On Early English Pronunciation, with Especial Reference to Shakspere and by Alexander John Ellis (1869)
"F. œil (aih) j with no capital, diacritic, palatal modification of preceding letter. 'j faint sound of (j, i) into which E. (««) occasionally ..."

3. Reminissensez Ov Scul Lif by Cornelius Wilson Larison (1896)
"Hence, every vowel, and every consonant which needs one, has a diacritic mark to show just what sound it is intended to represent. ..."

4. A Comparative Grammar of the Indo-Germanic Languages: A Concise Exposition by Karl Brugmann, Robert Seymour Conway, William Henry Denham Rouse (1895)
"... I hope that these will be forgiven, in view of the exceeding difficulty of correcting proof with so many different diacritic marks. ..."

5. Vie de Seint Auban: A Poem in Norman-French by Matthew Paris, Alban (1876)
"The following table will exhibit the system of diacritic points and accents I have ... Of these the only cases in which I use diacritic marks are i°, ..."

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