di·a·crit·ic (d   -kr t k)adj. 1. Diacritical. 2. Medicine Diagnostic or distinctive. n. A mark, such as the cedilla of façade or the acute accent of resumé, added to a letter to indicate a special phonetic value or distinguish words that are otherwise graphically identical. [Greek diakritikos, distinguishing, from diakritos, distinguished, from diakr nein, to distinguish : dia-, apart; see dia- + krnein, to separate; see krei- in Indo-European roots.] |
diacritic [ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪk]
n
(Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) Also called diacritical mark a sign placed above or below a character or letter to indicate that it has a different phonetic value, is stressed, or for some other reason
adj
(Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) another word for diacritical
[from Greek diakritikos serving to distinguish, from diakrinein, from dia- + krinein to separate]
diacritic - From Greek diakrinein, "distinguish from," it denotes marks or signs that distinguish different values or sounds (pronunciations) of a letter.
See also related terms for signs.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | diacritic - a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation mark - a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation); "his answer was just a punctuation mark" accent mark, accent - a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation breve - a diacritical mark (U-shaped) placed over a vowel to indicate a short sound cedilla - a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced as an s circumflex - a diacritical mark (^) placed above a vowel in some languages to indicate a special phonetic quality hacek, wedge - a diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above certain letters (such as the letter c) to indicate pronunciation macron - a diacritical mark (-) placed above a vowel to indicate a long sound tilde - a diacritical mark (~) placed over the letter n in Spanish to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel in Portuguese to indicate nasalization |
| Adj. | 1. | diacritic - capable of distinguishing; "students having superior diacritic powers"; "the diacritic elements in culture"- S.F.Nadel discriminating - showing or indicating careful judgment and discernment especially in matters of taste; "the discriminating eye of the connoisseur" |
Translations
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