"hyphenate" meaning in English

See hyphenate in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈhaɪfənət/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Forms: hyphenates [plural]
Etymology: From hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix). Etymology templates: {{af|en|hyphen|-ate|id2=substantive|pos2=noun-forming suffix}} hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix) Head templates: {{en-noun}} hyphenate (plural hyphenates)
  1. A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as "writer-director", "actor-model", or "singer-songwriter". Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-hyphenate-en-noun-sGbJ09Jh Disambiguation of People: 33 10 21 36
  2. A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as "African-American".
    Sense id: en-hyphenate-en-noun-RgnGjbBv Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive): 25 37 29 9
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav Forms: hyphenates [present, singular, third-person], hyphenating [participle, present], hyphenated [participle, past], hyphenated [past]
Etymology: From hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Etymology templates: {{af|en|hyphen|-ate|id2=verb|pos2=verb-forming suffix}} hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix) Head templates: {{en-verb}} hyphenate (third-person singular simple present hyphenates, present participle hyphenating, simple past and past participle hyphenated)
  1. (transitive) to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line. Tags: transitive Categories (topical): People Translations (to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules): пренасям дума (prenasjam duma) (Bulgarian), tavuttaa (Finnish), mettre la césure (French), abteilen (German), trennen (German), elválaszt (Hungarian), hifenizar (Portuguese), hifenar (Portuguese), translinear (Portuguese), avstava (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-hyphenate-en-verb-xRvT55cT Disambiguation of People: 33 10 21 36 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ate (verb), Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 26 27 42 5 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ate (verb): 74 26 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 80 20 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 27 26 44 4 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 25 25 46 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 75 25 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 80 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 75 25 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 69 31 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 71 29 Disambiguation of 'to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules': 98 2
  2. (transitive) to join words or syllables with a hyphen. Tags: transitive Categories (topical): People Translations (to join words or syllables with a hyphen): συλλαβίζω (syllavízo) (Greek), kötőjelez (Hungarian), kötőjellel ír (Hungarian), hifenizar (Portuguese), hifenar (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-hyphenate-en-verb-qoRGd~PV Disambiguation of People: 33 10 21 36 Disambiguation of 'to join words or syllables with a hyphen': 9 91
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: hyphenated, multihyphenated, unhyphenate, unhyphenated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "hyphenated"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "multihyphenated"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "unhyphenate"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "unhyphenated"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hyphen",
        "3": "-ate",
        "id2": "verb",
        "pos2": "verb-forming suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hyphenates",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenating",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenated",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenated",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hyphenate (third-person singular simple present hyphenates, present participle hyphenating, simple past and past participle hyphenated)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "26 27 42 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ate (verb)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 26 44 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 25 46 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "70 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "70 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "69 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "70 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "71 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 10 21 36",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line."
      ],
      "id": "en-hyphenate-en-verb-xRvT55cT",
      "links": [
        [
          "break",
          "break"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "hyphenation",
          "hyphenation"
        ],
        [
          "hyphen",
          "hyphen"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "prenasjam duma",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "пренасям дума"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "tavuttaa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "mettre la césure"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "abteilen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "trennen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "elválaszt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "hifenizar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "hifenar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "translinear"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
          "word": "avstava"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "33 10 21 36",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "you have to hyphenate his surname as it's double-barrelled",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to join words or syllables with a hyphen."
      ],
      "id": "en-hyphenate-en-verb-qoRGd~PV",
      "links": [
        [
          "syllable",
          "syllable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to join words or syllables with a hyphen."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "syllavízo",
          "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
          "word": "συλλαβίζω"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
          "word": "kötőjelez"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
          "word": "kötőjellel ír"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
          "word": "hifenizar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "9 91",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
          "word": "hifenar"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hyphenate"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hyphen",
        "3": "-ate",
        "id2": "substantive",
        "pos2": "noun-forming suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hyphenates",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hyphenate (plural hyphenates)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "33 10 21 36",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as \"writer-director\", \"actor-model\", or \"singer-songwriter\"."
      ],
      "id": "en-hyphenate-en-noun-sGbJ09Jh",
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "25 37 29 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Nick Adams, Making Friends With Black People, page 15:",
          "text": "We seem to have settled on African-American, and at first glance it certainly does seem logical. […] Not to mention what happens when hyphenates marry other hyphenates and have baby hyphenates.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as \"African-American\"."
      ],
      "id": "en-hyphenate-en-noun-RgnGjbBv",
      "links": [
        [
          "ethnicity",
          "ethnicity"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhaɪfənət/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hyphenate"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive)",
    "English terms suffixed with -ate (verb)",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "hyphenated"
    },
    {
      "word": "multihyphenated"
    },
    {
      "word": "unhyphenate"
    },
    {
      "word": "unhyphenated"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hyphen",
        "3": "-ate",
        "id2": "verb",
        "pos2": "verb-forming suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hyphenates",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenating",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenated",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hyphenated",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hyphenate (third-person singular simple present hyphenates, present participle hyphenating, simple past and past participle hyphenated)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "break",
          "break"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "hyphenation",
          "hyphenation"
        ],
        [
          "hyphen",
          "hyphen"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "you have to hyphenate his surname as it's double-barrelled",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to join words or syllables with a hyphen."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "syllable",
          "syllable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to join words or syllables with a hyphen."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/ac/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-hyphenate.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "prenasjam duma",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "пренасям дума"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "tavuttaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "mettre la césure"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "abteilen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "trennen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "elválaszt"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "hifenizar"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "hifenar"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "translinear"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules",
      "word": "avstava"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "syllavízo",
      "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
      "word": "συλλαβίζω"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
      "word": "kötőjelez"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
      "word": "kötőjellel ír"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
      "word": "hifenizar"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to join words or syllables with a hyphen",
      "word": "hifenar"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hyphenate"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive)",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hyphen",
        "3": "-ate",
        "id2": "substantive",
        "pos2": "noun-forming suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hyphen + -ate (noun-forming suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hyphenates",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hyphenate (plural hyphenates)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as \"writer-director\", \"actor-model\", or \"singer-songwriter\"."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Nick Adams, Making Friends With Black People, page 15:",
          "text": "We seem to have settled on African-American, and at first glance it certainly does seem logical. […] Not to mention what happens when hyphenates marry other hyphenates and have baby hyphenates.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as \"African-American\"."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ethnicity",
          "ethnicity"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈhaɪfənət/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hyphenate"
}

Download raw JSONL data for hyphenate meaning in English (6.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (e4a2c88 and 4230888). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.