Definition of Apostrophe

1. Noun. Address to an absent or imaginary person.

Generic synonyms: Rhetorical Device

2. Noun. The mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word.
Generic synonyms: Punctuation, Punctuation Mark
Derivative terms: Apostrophise, Apostrophize

Definition of Apostrophe

1. n. A figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of "Paradise Lost."

Definition of Apostrophe

1. Noun. (context: orthography) The text character '''’''', that serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacrictical mark in certain rare contexts. ¹

2. Noun. (rhetoric) A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Apostrophe

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Apostrophe

apostles
apostleship
apostleships
apostolate
apostolates
apostolic
apostolic delegate
apostolic succession
apostolical
apostolically
apostolicalness
apostolicities
apostolicity
apostolicness
apostosis
apostrophe (current term)
apostrophes
apostrophic
apostrophically
apostrophise
apostrophised
apostrophises
apostrophising
apostrophize
apostrophized
apostrophizes
apostrophizing
apostume
apostumes
aposymbioses

Literary usage of Apostrophe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"apostrophe. 56. An apostrophe is used as in English to indicate that a sound ... An apostrophe is not used in the common contractions of the article with a ..."

2. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"lion, the apostrophe is used to mark the omission of numerals: class of'86 politics during the ‘60s Some words or their variants are consistently spelled ..."

3. Handbook of Composition: A Compendium of Rules Regarding Good English by Edwin Campbell Woolley (1907)
"With contractions In forming plurals The apostrophe (') 251. In the possessive singular of regularly inflected nouns an apostrophe should (with the ..."

4. The Century Handbook of Writing by Garland Greever, Easley Stephen Jones (1918)
"PUNCTUATION —THE apostrophe *i things. Helen Locke said yesterday, Hughie always tells me when I am putting him to bed, I want my Teddy bear ". 5. ..."

5. Bulletin by School of Mines and Metallurgy, University of Missouri (1920)
"THE apostrophe 27. Use the apostrophe as follows to form the possessive case of nouns: Add apostrophe and J in the singular, as the girl's hat. ..."

6. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style Into Writer's Workshop by Jeff Anderson (2005)
"The apostrophe always communicates possession or contraction. ... The problem is, the two apostrophe rules step on each others' toes. ..."

7. Wisconsin Journal of Education by Wisconsin Teachers' Association, Wisconsin Education Association Council, Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction (1882)
"WHERE SHALL I PUT THE apostrophe? Few things are so simple as the formation of the possessive case in English; yet pupils often make mistakes, by putting an ..."

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