apostrophe meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

apostrophe

noun

UK /əˈpɒs.tɹə.fi/ · US /əˈpɑs.tɹə.fi/

Etymology From French apostrophe, or Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

Communications, Journalism, Literature, Media, Orthography, Publishing, Writing The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.

Since its inception the apostrophe has been a controversial piece of punctuation.2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 30:

Derived terms: apologetic apostrophe, apostrophectomy, apostrophed, apostropheless, apostrophise, curly apostrophe, greengrocers' apostrophe, greengrocer's apostrophe, idiot's apostrophe, printer's apostrophe, rogue apostrophe, straight apostrophe, typewriter apostrophe, typographical apostrophe, typographic apostrophe, vertical apostrophe
Related terms: curly brackets, brace, square bracket, bracket, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation mark, fraction slash, guillemet, hyphen, interpunct, interrobang, parentheses (US, Canada), full stop, period, question mark, quotation marks, semicolon, slash, stroke, space

apostrophe

noun

Etymology From Latin apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

Rhetoric A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.

Apostrophe a bold digression makes, Mov'd by some sudden thought the theme awakes.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Apostrophe.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 28:
The warm apostrophe of Riccardini to this little representative of his parents, whom he called "the son of his love, the child of his old age, the gift of his beloved niece, on the behalf of his angel-daughter," affected them all;...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 139:

Derived terms: apostrophic, apostrophically, apostrophize
Related terms: catastrophe

apostrophe

noun

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences An arrangement of chlorophyll grains perpendicular to the outer surface of plant cells, as opposed to epistrophe (an arrangement on the outer surface).

As is well known, chloroplast in the epistrophe position presents an oval or more or less circular form; in the apostrophe position a flattened and lenticular form.1905 September 8, Harold Wager, “On Some Problems of Cell Structure and Physiology”, in English Mechanics and the World of Science, volume 82, number 2111, page 105:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.