hyphenn.
/ˈhʌɪfən/ 1.
a. A short dash or line (-) used to connect two words together as a compound; also, to join the separated syllables of a word, as at the end of a line; or to divide a word into parts for etymological or other purposes.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > [noun] > hyphen
hyphenc1620
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 41 He would have us to reade these two last words in one, by way of ὑϕὲν, thus.]
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. x. §7 Hyphen is, as it wer, a band uniting whol wordes joined in composition; as, a hand-maed [etc.].
a1637 B. Jonson Timber 221 in Wks. (1640) III What a sight it is, to see Writers committed together by the eares, for Ceremonies, Syllables, Points, Colons, Comma's, Hyphens, and the like?
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Hyphen..is used, either when two words are joyned together, for the more conciseness of expression, as Self-interest; or when one part of a word concludes the former Line, and the one begins the next.
1881 C. P. Mason Eng. Gram. §299 When the two elements of the compound are only partially blended, a hyphen is put between them.
b. Applied to the ‘plus’ sign (+).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [noun] > arithmetic or algebraic symbols > addition
plus1579
plus sign1826
hyphen1850
1850 C. G. B. Daubeny Introd. Atomic Theory (ed. 2) iii. 105 In Berzelius's method..to express compound salts, the symbols for each were brought together by means of an hyphen +.
2. transferred.
a. A short pause between two syllables in speaking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > pause
pausec1426
rest1575
period1587
hyphen1868
1868 ‘G. Eliot’ Spanish Gypsy i. 14 Whistles low notes or seems to thrum his lute As a mere hyphen 'twixt two syllables Of any steadier man.
1872 C. King Mountaineering in Sierra Nevada x. 208 With hyphens of silence between each two syllables.
b. A small connecting link.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > fact or action of being connected or connecting > [noun] > fact or action of being linked or linking > one who or that which > a connecting link
link1548
copulative1615
root1632
copula1656
nexus1663
juncturea1676
tie1711
connecting link1797
interlinka1834
hyphen1868
1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 169 It was a bridge for migrations. It was a hyphen, connecting different races.
1881 Daily Tel. 21 June 6/8 M. de Lesseps, who is the sworn foe of all such geographical hyphens [isthmuses].
Compounds
attributive. = hyphenated adj. 2.
ΚΠ
1916 Literary Digest 1 Jan. 4/1 In the event of the Republicans nominating any man on a hyphen platform or on hyphenated promises.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
hyphenv.
/ˈhʌɪfən/ transitive. To join by a hyphen; to write (a compound) with a hyphen.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > punctuate [verb (transitive)] > hyphen
hyphen1814
hyphenize1869
hyphenate1892
1814 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 74 306 The Englishman imagines all words connected by apposition to be hyphened together, and inflects them as a single word.
1884 N.E.D. I. Gen. Explan. p. xxiii Many specialized combinations..are often not even hyphened.
1891 S. Mostyn Curatica 128 The Joneses, when their father was induced to move from Shepherd's Bush to Kensington, showed their gratitude to their mother by hyphening her name with their own..‘The Misses Robinson-Jones’.
1894 Sunday Sch. Times (Philadelphia) 3 Feb. On the principle that words should not be hyphened unless absolutely necessary.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.c1620v.1814