1. Plural of dieresis; the separation of two adjacent vowels into distinct syllables, marked by a diaeresis (¨) in writing.
Usage: linguistics; grammar
2. In poetry and prosody, the division of a metrical foot between two words.
Usage: prosody; literary

Examples

• The word 'naïve' contains a dieresis between the 'a' and 'i' sounds.
• In English, diereses are sometimes marked with a diaeresis to clarify pronunciation.
• The poet used diereses strategically to break up the metrical pattern.
• Diereses help readers understand which vowels should be pronounced separately.
• Classical Greek texts often show diereses in their notation systems.