See apostrophus in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"ref": "1640, Ben Jonson, The English Grammar: Book 2: Of Syntax:",
"text": "Vowels suffer also this apostrophus before the consonant h.",
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"ref": "1824, August Matthiä, Copious Greek Grammar - Volume 1, page xxxvi:",
"text": "Not that any examples are wanting to prove that the ancients did use the apostrophus in prose; for it was scarecely possible for them not to do so in many instances;",
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"ref": "1865, Alexander Hume, Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue:",
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"The omission of a vowel or syllable from a word, usually indicated by the apostrophe symbol ( ' ). examples: 'til, can't"
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"(archaic) The omission of a vowel or syllable from a word, usually indicated by the apostrophe symbol ( ' ). examples: 'til, can't"
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{
"ref": "1644, Richard Hodges, The English Primrose:",
"text": "The apostrophus or mark of contraction, is the same with the comma, onely the difference is of place; for, this stands not in the line, but over the upper part thereof, where the contraction is:",
"type": "quote"
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{
"ref": "1833, Philipp Buttmann, Edmund Henry Barker, Dr. Philip Buttmann's Intermediate Or Larger Greek Grammar, page 46:",
"text": "In the Greek, as in other languages, a short vowel at the end of a word before another vowel, is thrown out by elision, and the apostrophus ' is placed as a mark or sign over the empty space;",
"type": "quote"
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{
"ref": "1842, George Knox Gillespie, The Formative Greek Grammar, page 4:",
"text": "This apocope is denoted by the apostrophus ( ' ),",
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"The apostrophe symbol used to mark this elision."
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"(archaic) The apostrophe symbol used to mark this elision."
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"ref": "1598, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost:",
"text": "You find not the apostrophus, and so miss the accent. Let me supervise the canzonet.",
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{
"ref": "2009, Iain Fenlon, Early Music History, page 66:",
"text": "In the early Graduals Benevento VI. 38 and 40, the apostrophus is common in syllabic passages in sequences, tropes and prosulae.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Rebecca Maloy, Inside the Offertory: Aspects of Chronology and Transmission, page iv:",
"text": "In transcriptions from Ben 34, I have not distinguished the apostrophus from regular notes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017, John Boe, Chant and Notation in South Italy and Rome before 1300, page 66:",
"text": "The early Beneventan apostrophus was optional, instructive and exemplary, suggesting low, quick, unaccented syllables at the start of a phrase (sometimes implying a preceding breath) in the Gregorian Mass Propers and short or quick syllables in tropes, prosulae and sequences.",
"type": "quote"
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"An open notehead ( ~ ) or an apostrophe ( ' ) used as a neume to mark a low, unaccented syllable at the beginning of a phrase or a short quick syllable"
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"(music, historical) An open notehead ( ~ ) or an apostrophe ( ' ) used as a neume to mark a low, unaccented syllable at the beginning of a phrase or a short quick syllable"
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"ref": "1862, Richard Hiley, The Elements of Latin Grammar, page 26:",
"text": "In every multiplication with ten a fresh apostrophus is added; thus IↃↃ = 5000, IↃↃↃ = 50,000.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1878, Ethan Allen Andrews, Grammar of the Latin Language, page 72:",
"text": "The annexing of the apostrophus or inverted C (Ↄ) to IↃ makes its value ten times greater;",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Allied Chambers, The Chambers Dictionary:",
"text": "The symbol Ↄ, known as the apostrophus, might be repeated one or more times after IↃ , each Ↄ making the number ten times greater, as IↃↃ = 5000, IↃↃↃↃ = 500,000.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Jan K. Coetzee, Books & Bones & Other Things, page 78:",
"text": "Anno CIↃ IↃ C LXXXVI. (Apostrophus numbering): In the year 1686",
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"The symbol 'Ↄ', used in Roman numerals to indicate multiplication by 10."
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"word": "apostrophus"
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{
"ref": "1640, Ben Jonson, The English Grammar: Book 2: Of Syntax:",
"text": "Vowels suffer also this apostrophus before the consonant h.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1824, August Matthiä, Copious Greek Grammar - Volume 1, page xxxvi:",
"text": "Not that any examples are wanting to prove that the ancients did use the apostrophus in prose; for it was scarecely possible for them not to do so in many instances;",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1865, Alexander Hume, Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue:",
"text": "Out of one word, the apostrophus is most usual in poesie;",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"The omission of a vowel or syllable from a word, usually indicated by the apostrophe symbol ( ' ). examples: 'til, can't"
],
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[
"omission",
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"(archaic) The omission of a vowel or syllable from a word, usually indicated by the apostrophe symbol ( ' ). examples: 'til, can't"
],
"tags": [
"archaic"
]
},
{
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"English terms with archaic senses",
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{
"ref": "1644, Richard Hodges, The English Primrose:",
"text": "The apostrophus or mark of contraction, is the same with the comma, onely the difference is of place; for, this stands not in the line, but over the upper part thereof, where the contraction is:",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1833, Philipp Buttmann, Edmund Henry Barker, Dr. Philip Buttmann's Intermediate Or Larger Greek Grammar, page 46:",
"text": "In the Greek, as in other languages, a short vowel at the end of a word before another vowel, is thrown out by elision, and the apostrophus ' is placed as a mark or sign over the empty space;",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1842, George Knox Gillespie, The Formative Greek Grammar, page 4:",
"text": "This apocope is denoted by the apostrophus ( ' ),",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"The apostrophe symbol used to mark this elision."
],
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[
"elision",
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],
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"(archaic) The apostrophe symbol used to mark this elision."
],
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{
"ref": "1598, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost:",
"text": "You find not the apostrophus, and so miss the accent. Let me supervise the canzonet.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2009, Iain Fenlon, Early Music History, page 66:",
"text": "In the early Graduals Benevento VI. 38 and 40, the apostrophus is common in syllabic passages in sequences, tropes and prosulae.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Rebecca Maloy, Inside the Offertory: Aspects of Chronology and Transmission, page iv:",
"text": "In transcriptions from Ben 34, I have not distinguished the apostrophus from regular notes.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017, John Boe, Chant and Notation in South Italy and Rome before 1300, page 66:",
"text": "The early Beneventan apostrophus was optional, instructive and exemplary, suggesting low, quick, unaccented syllables at the start of a phrase (sometimes implying a preceding breath) in the Gregorian Mass Propers and short or quick syllables in tropes, prosulae and sequences.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"An open notehead ( ~ ) or an apostrophe ( ' ) used as a neume to mark a low, unaccented syllable at the beginning of a phrase or a short quick syllable"
],
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"(music, historical) An open notehead ( ~ ) or an apostrophe ( ' ) used as a neume to mark a low, unaccented syllable at the beginning of a phrase or a short quick syllable"
],
"tags": [
"historical"
],
"topics": [
"entertainment",
"lifestyle",
"music"
]
},
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1862, Richard Hiley, The Elements of Latin Grammar, page 26:",
"text": "In every multiplication with ten a fresh apostrophus is added; thus IↃↃ = 5000, IↃↃↃ = 50,000.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1878, Ethan Allen Andrews, Grammar of the Latin Language, page 72:",
"text": "The annexing of the apostrophus or inverted C (Ↄ) to IↃ makes its value ten times greater;",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Allied Chambers, The Chambers Dictionary:",
"text": "The symbol Ↄ, known as the apostrophus, might be repeated one or more times after IↃ , each Ↄ making the number ten times greater, as IↃↃ = 5000, IↃↃↃↃ = 500,000.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Jan K. Coetzee, Books & Bones & Other Things, page 78:",
"text": "Anno CIↃ IↃ C LXXXVI. (Apostrophus numbering): In the year 1686",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The symbol 'Ↄ', used in Roman numerals to indicate multiplication by 10."
],
"links": [
[
"Ↄ",
"Ↄ"
],
[
"Roman numeral",
"Roman numeral"
]
]
}
],
"word": "apostrophus"
}
Download raw JSONL data for apostrophus meaning in English (5.8kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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