hyphen

B2 Topic:Communication

US /ˈhaɪfən/ UK /ˈhaɪ.fən/ See IPA manual

Freq #51149

Meanings

1

noun
The punctuation mark (-) used to join words in a compound or to split a word at the end of a line.

The word "well-known" is written with a hyphen.
2

verb
To join or divide words with a hyphen.

You should hyphen the two words when they describe a noun.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the punctuation mark (-)... dash

2 verb · to join or divide words... hyphenate

Word family

Forms hyphens

Derived forms hyphen-minushyphenatehyphenatedhyphenationhyphenatorhyphenichyphenismhyphenitishyphenizehyphenlessmishyphenunhyphenate

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”).

ὑφέν Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# hyphen

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈhaɪfən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhaɪ.fən/
**Frequency rank:** 51149

## Meanings
1. The punctuation mark (-) used to join words in a compound or to split a word at the end of a line.
2. To join or divide words with a hyphen.

## Examples
- The word "well-known" is written with a hyphen.
- You should hyphen the two words when they describe a noun.

## Derived Forms
- hyphen-minus
- hyphenate
- hyphenated
- hyphenation
- hyphenator
- hyphenic
- hyphenism
- hyphenitis
- hyphenize
- hyphenless
- mishyphen
- unhyphenate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ὑφέν

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Hyphen comes 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”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named elements. In current use, the main senses are “The punctuation mark (-) used to join words in a compound or to split a word at the end of a line” and “To join or divide words with a hyphen”.

## Topics
- Communication

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