"Apostrophe" is a word in ENGLISH
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.\"
The mark ['] used to denote that a word is contracted
(as in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as a sign of the
possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat, boys' hats. In the
latter use it originally marked the omission of the letter e.
The contraction of a word by the omission of a letter
or letters, which omission is marked by the character ['] placed where
the letter or letters would have been; as, call'd for called.
We are descended from a people whose government was founded on liberty; our glorious forefathers of Great Britain made liberty the foundation of everything. That country is become a great, mighty, and splendid nation; not because their government is strong and energetic, but, sir, because liberty is its direct end and foundation.
WORD SUGGESTIONS
The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for …
Read the complete definitionThe cutting off, or omission, of the last letter, syllable, or part of a word.
Read the complete definitionThe figure of a star, thus, /, used in printing and writing as a reference to a passage or note …
Read the complete definitionThe shortening of a word, or of two words, by the omission of a letter or letters, or by reducing …
Read the complete definition