hyphen

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   divide or connect with a hyphen

   hyphenate these words and names

2. 2
   noun

   The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.

   As the proud owner of my very own hyphen in a lovingly crafted surname, I have an especial soft spot for this most confusing of punctuation marks.

3. 3
   noun

   Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.

   Cunliffe and Karunanayake (2013) developed Fine's notion to introduce potential hyphen spaces that are deeply implicated and reciprocally influential in relationships between researchers and the researched.

4. 4
   noun

   Someone who belongs to a marginalized subgroup, and can therefore described by a hyphenated term, such as "German-American", "female-academic", etc.

   Tab has been kept on quite a number of members who rapturously applauded when that part of the message in which the hyphens were attacked was read by the President.

5. 5
   conj

   Used to emphasize the coordinating function usually indicated by the punctuation "-".

   You are sitting at the wrong table, if I may be so bold, among the misguided who believe in the mass murder of mentalities, otherwise known as the liberal arts hyphen vocational training hyphen education.

6. 6
   noun

   a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text

7. 7
   verb

   To separate or punctuate with a hyphen; to hyphenate.

Etymology

From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ὑφέν (huphén, “together”), contracted from ὑφ’ ἕν (huph’ hén, “under one”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).