apostrophe
noun
[ əˈpɒstrəfi ]
• a punctuation mark (') used to indicate either possession (e.g. Harry ' s book ; boys ' coats ) or the omission of letters or numbers (e.g. can ' t ; he ' s ; 1 Jan. ' 99 ).
Origin:
mid 16th century (denoting the omission of one or more letters): via late Latin, from Greek apostrophos ‘accent of elision’, from apostrephein ‘turn away’, from apo ‘from’ + strephein ‘to turn’.
apostrophe
noun
• an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person (typically one who is dead or absent) or thing (typically one that is personified).
Origin:
mid 16th century: via Latin from Greek apostrophē ‘turning away’, from apostrephein ‘turn away’ (see apostrophe1).
