Antonyms for apostrophe


Grammar : Noun
Spell : uh-pos-truh-fee
Phonetic Transcription : əˈpɒs trə fi


Definition of apostrophe

Origin :
  • mark indicating omitted letter, 1580s, from Middle French apostrophe, from Late Latin apostrophus, from Greek apostrophos (prosoidia) "(the accent of) turning away," thus, a mark showing where a letter has been omitted, from apostrephein "avert, turn away," from apo- "from" (see apo-) + strephein "to turn" (see strophe).
  • In English, the mark often represents loss of -e- in -es, possessive ending. It was being extended to all possessives, whether they ever had an -e- or not, by 18c. Greek also used this word for a "turning aside" of an orator in speech to address some individual, a sense first recorded in English 1530s.
  • As in stream of consciousness : noun word association
  • As in irrelevancy : noun digression
  • As in parenthesis : noun digression
  • As in digression : noun deviation; straying
  • As in figure of speech : noun turn of expression
Example sentences :
  • The apostrophe to the heroism of the soldiers is sickly and pale.
  • Extract from : « Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 » by Adam Gurowski
  • Bobinette did not seem to understand one word of this apostrophe.
  • Extract from : « A Nest of Spies » by Pierre Souvestre
  • And he added the apostrophe, "What a revolutionary torrent is the Loire!"
  • Extract from : « The Historical Nights' Entertainment » by Rafael Sabatini
  • The apostrophe is used to indicate that some letter or letters of a word are left out.
  • Extract from : « "Stops" » by Paul Allardyce
  • The mark for the apostrophe; and also the marks for inverted commas.
  • Extract from : « "Stops" » by Paul Allardyce
  • The letter "s" is added, and the apostrophe is placed before it.
  • Extract from : « "Stops" » by Paul Allardyce
  • If the plural do not end in "s," an "s" is added, and the apostrophe is placed before it.
  • Extract from : « "Stops" » by Paul Allardyce
  • The apostrophe is used before the "s" of the plural when single letters are used as words.
  • Extract from : « "Stops" » by Paul Allardyce
  • Nouns in the plural ending in s take an apostrophe only to form the possessive.
  • Extract from : « Punctuation » by Frederick W. Hamilton
  • The apostrophe is used to form the plural of letters and figures.
  • Extract from : « Punctuation » by Frederick W. Hamilton

Synonyms for apostrophe

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019