Learned borrowing from Late Latin hyphen, from Ancient Greek ῠ̔φέν (hŭphén, “in one, as a single word”), univerbation of ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén, “under one”), from ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).
Meanings
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. 1945, Robert Gessner, Youth is the time:
He described himself as a poet-composer and actually said the word hyphen when he did so: "I'm a poet hyphen composer. 1983, Linda Crawford, Vanishing acts:
He is an actor (hyphen) writer (hyphen) director. In the fifth year of the series Alan Alda added another title to his growing list — that of creative consultant. 1983, David S. Reiss, M*A*S*H: the exclusive, inside story of TV's most popular show:
Ax was now a Hollywood hyphenated man. An actor hyphen director hyphen writer. 1950, Cleveland Amory, Home town:
One reason he has avoided reading legal thrillers is that “they seem really to have been written by lawyer-hyphen-authors.” 2007, Stephen M. Murphy, What If Holden Caulfield Went to Law School?, page 65:
Learned borrowing from Late Latin hyphen, from Ancient Greek ῠ̔φέν (hŭphén, “in one, as a single word”), univerbation of ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén, “under one”), from ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).
Meanings
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. 2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 56:
(figuratively) 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. 2019 June 20, Noof Aldaheri, Gustavo Guzman, and Heather Stewart, “Tales of the Unknown and Entanglement”, in Prof. Anthony Stacey, editor, ECRM 2019 18th European Conference on Research Methods in Business and Management, Academic Conferences and publishing limited, →ISBN, page 26:
(figuratively) Something which links two things of greater significance than itself. ▸ An enclosed walkway or passage that connects two buildings.
Construction details for the hyphens, or "connecting wings" as they were called by the contractors, were included in the contractors' specifications, as follows: 2010, Mary L. Kwas, A Pictorial History of Arkansas's Old State House:
The hyphens were added, joining the structures into one building, which now measures just over two hundred feet long. 1997, Peter Beney, The Majesty of Colonial Williamsburg, page 156:
Those were the “hyphens,” the passageways that connected the wings of the mansion to its center. 2012, James M Cain, The Cocktail Waitress:
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. 1916, The American Monthly - Volume 3, page 221:
A leading Republican paper also had, on the eve of the convention, focused attention on this issue by remarking that Hughes was “designated by the Hyphens as their agent to punish Mr. Wilson for his partial refusal to comply with Potsdam orders. 2013, Kevin O’Keefe, A Thousand Deadlines:
Sign language interpreters fascinate me because their cultural space, "working the hyphens" as Michelle Fine (1994) would call it, and performing in the kind of hybrid third space that Homi Bhabha (1994) has written about resonates often with my own "hard-of-hearing" doubly hyphenated existence in both deaf and hearing worlds. 2004, Bonnie G. Smith, Beth Hutchison, Gendering Disability, page 61:
pl łącznik (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tr tire (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fi yhdysmerkki (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tg дефис (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · th ยัติภังค์ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fr tiret (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · be злучо́к (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fo bindistrika (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · nl verbindingsstreepje (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fr tiret du 6 (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · bg дефи́с (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sv bindestreck (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ru дефи́с (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sv divis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sl deljaj (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ga fleiscín (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · vi dấu gạch nối (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fa-ira خَطِّ فاصِلِه (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · gd strìoch (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ia tracto de union (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ab аҵәаӷәаҷ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · bn হাইফেন (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · mi tohuhono (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · uk ри́ска (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ug سىزىقچە (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sq vizë ndarëse (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sh spójnica (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · kk дефис (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · pt traço (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ca guionet (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ky сызыкча (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hy միության գծիկ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · acw شَرْطَة (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ba һыҙыҡса (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · nl afbreekteken (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · be ры́ска (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · cy cyplysnod (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · he מַקָּף (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · id tanda hubung (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · lb Bindestréch (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · be дэфі́с (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · it trattino (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tt сызыкча (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tl giyon (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sh спо́јница (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · kk сызықша (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hu választójel (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · nb bindestrek (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hi हैफ़ेन (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · mn зураас (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · pl kreseczka (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hy ենթամնա (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fi väliviiva (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sk spojovník (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fi yhdysviiva (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ro liniuță de unire (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · mk цртичка (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tk çyzyk (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · el ενωτικό (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · lt brūkšnelis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · cy cysylltnod (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hu kötőjel (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ky дефис (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · my တုံး (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · gd sgrìob-cheangail (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fi tavuviiva (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · vi dấu nối (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · cs spojovník (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · kw nos-junya (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · mi tohuwehe (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tk defis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fr trait d'union (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · cmn 連字號 /连字号 (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · km អនុកលា (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ar شَرْطَة (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ms sempang (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · de Divis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · bg тире́ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · az defis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · es guion (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · cy heiffen (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · de Bindestrich (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · km សហសញ្ញា (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · sl vezaj (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · pt hífen (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · pl dywiz (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ja ハイフン (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · la virgula (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · uk дефі́с (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · fa-ira خَطِّ تیرِه (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · da bindestreg (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tg нимтире (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ro cratimă (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ar شَحْطَة (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · km ក្បៀសឆ្លងពាក្យ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ko 하이픈 (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hu diviz (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tl gitling (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ka დეფისი (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · eo streketo (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ko 붙임표 (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · uz chiziqcha (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tk tirkeş (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hu elválasztójel (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · lt brūkšnys (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ur ہائِفِن (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · tr kısa çizgi (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · km រជ្ជុសញ្ញា (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · ru чёрточка (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · et sidekriips (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · is bandstrik (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · nn bindestrek (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · nl koppelteken (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · vo yümamalül (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · gd tàthan (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · lv defise (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · km យតិភង្គ (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · uz defis (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split) · hy դեֆիս (symbol used to join words or to indicate a word has been split)
Learned borrowing from Late Latin hyphen, from Ancient Greek ῠ̔φέν (hŭphén, “in one, as a single word”), univerbation of ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén, “under one”), from ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).
Meanings
(dated, transitive) To separate or punctuate with a hyphen; to hyphenate.