Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See dieresis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Gram.) The separation or resolution of one syllable into two; -- the opposite of synæresis.
  • noun A mark consisting of two dots [¨], placed over the second of two adjacent vowels, to denote that they are to be pronounced as distinct letters.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun orthography A diacritic placed over a vowel letter indicating that it is sounded separately, usually forming a distinct syllable, as in naïve, Noël, Brontë.
  • noun linguistics, prosody The separation of a vowel, often a diphthong, into two distinct syllables.
  • noun prosody A natural break in rhythm when a word ends at the end of a metrical foot, in a line of verse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel in German to indicate a change in sound

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek διαίρεσις ("division, split"), from διά (dia, "apart") + αἱρέω (aireō, "I take").

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Examples

  • The term diaeresis earlier diæresis, US dieresis derives from a Greek word meaning 'divide' or 'separate'.

    Archive 2007-03-01 DC 2007

  • The term diaeresis earlier diæresis, US dieresis derives from a Greek word meaning 'divide' or 'separate'.

    On di(a)ereses DC 2007

  • She loved having two dots over the e of her name and told everyone that they were called a diaeresis and meant that both the o and the e were to be sounded.

    T-Backs, T-shirts, Coat, and Suit E.L. Konigsborg 1993

  • She loved having two dots over the e of her name and told everyone that they were called a diaeresis and meant that both the o and the e were to be sounded.

    T-Backs, T-shirts, Coat, and Suit E.L. Konigsborg 1993

  • So there is a key called diaeresis (¨), which on the British keyboard is got by using Alt Gr and the left square bracket, so: AltGr+ [

    Command Line Warriors 2008

  • To add a diaeresis (¨) above a letter, press Ctrl +: and type the letter that requires the diaeresis.

    Grave Press | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • To add a diaeresis (¨) above a letter, press Ctrl +: and type the letter that requires the diaeresis.

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 614 2009

  • Probably because of that strange little trema (a French kind of umlaut or diaeresis) over the "e".

    Brooks Peters: Le Mot Juiced 2009

  • For the accent challenged, like me before looking it up, to put a diaeresis above the 'e' in Zoë: in comments hold down [ALT] and key 137 into the number keypad (the number line above the letter keyboard won't work).

    With bright eyes, we look forward to . . . 2007

  • Somehow the New Yorker's arcane use of a diaeresis (coöperation) or acute accent (élite) seems quaint - and doesn't interrupt a reader's flow like an additional, superfluous word; even e-mail doesn't itch.

    Bruce Gilardi: The Gray Lady Doesn't Get the 'Message' (and is Promoting Porn?) 2008

Comments

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  • Aww, I wish this word didn't make me think of diarrhea... :-(

    October 29, 2007

  • Or worse (somehow): diarrhoea.

    October 29, 2007

  • Or even logorrhea, which I think is appropriately descriptive.

    October 29, 2007

  • Ha!

    Only if you don't spell it logorrhoea. Gosh, that spelling is gross.

    October 29, 2007

  • Not surprisingly, perhaps, weirdnet got it wrong again. Diaeresis, or in U.S. spelling, dieresis, indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately and not as a diphthong, and in naïve. It's the umlaut (which looks like diaresis) that changes the quality of the vowel, as in Übermensch.

    December 2, 2007