Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “apostrophe” come from?

Apostrophe comes from French apostrophe, from Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπό meaning "away from" combined with a verbal element, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂epo.

apostrophe (English): The text character ’, which serves as a...

Definitions

  1. The text character ’, which serves as a...

Ancestry of “apostrophe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchapostropheapostrophe; first/third-person singular present...
2Latinapostrŏphus—
3Ancient Greekἀπόστροφοςaccent of elision
4Ancient GreekἀποστρέφωI turn away
5Ancient Greekἀπο-Indicating movement: away, from, off; Indicating...
6Ancient Greekἀπόfrom, away from; because of, as a result of
7Ancient GreekἭλιοςsun
8Ancient GreekτύποςA blow, pressing; The results of a blow: mark,...
9Ancient Greekτύπτωto beat, strike, smite; to beat, strike oneself
10Proto-Indo-European(s)tewp-to push, to stick
11Proto-Indo-European(s)tew-to push, to hit

Words derived from “apostrophe”

  • strop
  • apostrophize
  • apostrophise
  • apostrophic
  • apostrophically
  • apostropheless
  • apostrophectomy
  • アポストロフィー
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)tew- →