hyphenate
/ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.92 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line.
Transitive verb
noun
A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as "writer-director", "actor-model", or "singer-songwriter".
noun
A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as "African-American".
Example Sentences
- "you have to hyphenate his surname as it's double-barrelled"
- "We seem to have settled on African-American, and at first glance it certainly does seem logical. […] Not to mention what happens when hyphenates marry other hyphenates and have baby hyphenates."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Ancient Greek ῠ̔πό (hŭpó) Ancient Greek ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-) Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḗm Proto-Indo-European *sémsder. Proto-Hellenic *hens Ancient Greek εἷς, μῐ́ᾰ, ἕν (heîs, mĭ́ă, hén) Ancient Greek ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén) Ancient Greek ῠ̔φέν (hŭphén)bor. Late Latin hyphenlbor. English hyphen Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English hyphenate From hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/
- British English: /ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/