noun
- plural of diaeresis: a mark (¨) placed over a vowel to indicate it is pronounced separately from an adjacent vowel
Usage: typography; linguistics
Examples
- The word ‘naïve’ contains a diaeresis over the i.
- Diaereses are commonly used in French words like ‘Noël’.
- The editor added diaereses to clarify the pronunciation.
- Some English words borrowed from other languages retain their diaereses.
- The typesetter carefully placed the diaereses above the vowels.
- Modern English rarely uses diaereses in everyday writing.