| dieresis(¨) |
| Definition - A diacritic placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel should be pronounced separately from the preceding letter. |
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Example - In the word coöperate, the diacritic ¨ indicates that the word has four syllables. |
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Etymology - The word derives from the Greek diairein, to divide or separate (from dia, apart + hairein, to take). |
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Oxford English Dictionary - The first citation for the word in this sense is from 1611: "Diæresis is when two points ouer a vowell diuide it from another vowell, as bouë, queuë." (Cotgr. Nnnn) |
