English Explanatory Dictionary

hyphen

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
  2. Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.
  3. An enclosed walkway or passage that connects two buildings.
  4. Someone who belongs to a marginalized subgroup, and can therefore described by a hyphenated term, such as "German-American", "female-academic", etc.
verb
  1. To separate or punctuate with a hyphen; to hyphenate.
conj
  1. Used to emphasize the coordinating function usually indicated by the punctuation "-".

Pronunciation

/ˈhaɪ.fən/ En-us-hyphen.ogg

Word forms

hyphen hyphens hyphening hyphened

Etymology

From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ὑφέν (huphén, “together”), contracted from ὑφ’ ἕν (huph’ hén, “under one”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).

Synonyms

slash cum

Related words

minus minus sign ־ apostrophe curly brackets brace square bracket bracket colon comma dash ellipsis exclamation mark fraction slash guillemet interpunct interrobang parentheses (US Canada) full stop period question mark quotation marks semicolon slash stroke space

Derived words

hyphenate hyphenated hyphenation hyphenator hyphenic hyphenism hyphenitis hyphenize hyphenless hyphen-minus mishyphen soft hyphen suspended hyphen unhyphenate work the hyphens
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