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Diacritic: meaning, definitions and examples

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diacritic

 

[ daɪəˈkrɪtɪk ]

Noun
Context #1 | Noun

linguistic

A diacritic is a mark added to a letter to indicate a special phonetic value, stress, or tone. Diacritics are commonly used in many languages to modify the sound or meaning of a letter or word.

Synonyms

accent mark, diacritical mark

Examples of usage

  • The diacritic on the letter 'ñ' in Spanish changes the pronunciation to 'ny' sound.
  • In French, the diacritic 'é' indicates an accented 'e'.
  • The diacritic above the letter 'ş' in Turkish changes its pronunciation.
Context #2 | Noun

computing

In computing, a diacritic is a symbol added to a letter to represent a different character or sound. Diacritics are used in programming languages, databases, and text processing systems.

Synonyms

accented character, special character

Examples of usage

  • The diacritic 'ç' is used in programming to represent a specific character.
  • In HTML, diacritics are important for displaying characters correctly on web pages.

Translations

Translations of the word "diacritic" in other languages:

🇵🇹 diacrítico

🇮🇳 स्वराघात चिन्ह

🇩🇪 Diakritikum

🇮🇩 diakritik

🇺🇦 діакритичний знак

🇵🇱 znak diakrytyczny

🇯🇵 ダイアクリティカルマーク

🇫🇷 diacritique

🇪🇸 signo diacrítico

🇹🇷 diakritik işareti

🇰🇷 발음 구별 기호

🇸🇦 علامة تشكيل

🇨🇿 diakritické znaménko

🇸🇰 diakritické znamienko

🇨🇳 变音符号

🇸🇮 diakritični znak

🇮🇸 díakrítískt tákn

🇰🇿 диакритикалық белгі

🇬🇪 დიაკრიტიკული ნიშანი

🇦🇿 diakritik işarəsi

🇲🇽 signo diacrítico

Etymology

The word 'diacritic' originates from the Greek word 'diakritikos', meaning 'distinguishing'. Diacritics have been used in written language for centuries to differentiate sounds or meanings. The concept of diacritics evolved in various languages and writing systems to provide more accurate pronunciation and representation of words. Today, diacritics play a crucial role in linguistics, typography, and computing.

Word Frequency Rank

Ranking #37,922, this word is encountered relatively rarely in everyday English. It might appear in literary works or specialized texts but isn't essential for general communication.