What is "apostrophe"

Apostrophe \A*pos"tro*phe\, n. [(1) L., fr. Gr. ? a turning away, fr. ? to turn away; ? from + ? to turn. (2) F., fr. L. apostrophus apostrophe, the turning away or omitting of a letter, Gr. ?.]

1. (Rhet.) 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.''

2. (Gram.) 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.

3. 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.

   Note: The apostrophe is used to mark the figures and letters; as, two 10's and three a's. It is also employed to mark the close of a quotation.

mark indicating omitted letter, 1580s, from Middle French apostrophe, from Late Latin apostrophus, from Greek apostrophos (prosoidia) "(the accent of) turning away," thus, a mark showing where a letter has been omitted, from apostrephein "avert, turn away," from apo- "from" (see apo-) + strephein "to turn" (see strophe).\n

\nIn English, the mark often represents loss of -e- in -es, possessive ending. It was being extended to all possessives, whether they ever had an -e- or not, by 18c. Greek also used this word for a "turning aside" of an orator in speech to address some individual, a sense first recorded in English 1530s.

Etymology 1 alt. (context orthography English) The text character '''’''', which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts. n. (context orthography English) The text character '''’''', which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts. Etymology 2

n. (context rhetoric English) A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.

1. n. address to an absent or imaginary person

2. the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word

The apostrophe ( ’ or ' ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets. In English, it is used for several purposes:

• The marking of the omission of one or more letters (as in the contraction of do not to don't).
• The marking of possessive case (as in the eagle's feathers, or in one month's time).
• The marking of some plurals (e.g. p's and q's, three a's, four i's, and two u's).

Apostrophe comes ultimately from Greek (, "[the accent of] 'turning away', or elision"), through Latin and French.

The apostrophe looks the same as a closing single quotation mark, although they have different meanings. The apostrophe also looks similar to, but is not the same as, the prime symbol ( ′ ), which is used to indicate measurement in feet or arcminutes, as well as for various mathematical purposes, and the ʻokina ( ), which represents a glottal stop in Polynesian languages. Such incorrect substitutes as ´ (acute) and ` (grave) are common in unprofessional texts, where an ambiguous treatment of the apostrophe in digital typesetting (as explained below) is a major factor of this confusion.

; An apostrophe is a punctuation mark, represented as ’ or '.

Apostrophe may also refer to:

• Apostrophe (figure of speech), an address to a person or personified objeobjelvt not present
• Apostrophe ('), a 1974 album by Frank Zappa
• Apostrophes: A Book of Tributes to Masters of Music, a 1910 book
• Apostrophes (talk show), a French television program about books
• "Apostrophe", a song by The Doubleclicks from the 2010 album Chainmail and Cello.

Apostrophe ( Greek ἀποστροφή, apostrophé, "turning away"; the final e being sounded) is an exclamatory figure of speech. It occurs when a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g. in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes absent from the scene. Often the addressee is a personified abstract quality or inanimate object. In dramatic works and poetry written in or translated into English, such a figure of speech is often introduced by the vocative exclamation "O". Poets may apostrophize a beloved, the Muse, God, love, time, or any other entity that can’t respond in reality.

Apostrophe (') is an album by Frank Zappa, his eighteenth, released on March 22, 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track, " Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was the first of Zappa's three Billboard Top 100 hits, ultimately peaking at #86. Apostrophe (') remains Zappa's most commercially successful album in the United States. It was certified gold by the RIAA on April 7, 1976 and peaked at #10 (a career-high placement) on the Billboard 200 chart in 1974. Continuing from the commercial breakthrough of Over-Nite Sensation (1973), this album is a similar mix of short songs showcasing Zappa's humor and musical arrangements. The record's lyrical themes are often bizarre or obscure, with the exception of "Uncle Remus", which is an extension of Zappa's feelings on racial disharmony featured on his earlier song " Trouble Every Day". This is Official Release #18.