hyphen
noun /ˈhaɪfn/
/ˈhaɪfn/
- the mark (- ) used to join two words together to make a new one, as in back-up, to show that a word has been divided between the end of one line and the beginning of the next, or to show that something is missing (as in short- and long-term)
- Is there a hyphen in post-mortem?
Word Originearly 17th cent.: via late Latin from Greek huphen ‘together’, from hupo ‘under’ + hen ‘one’.