Word
macron
Definition
n. a small mark (a horizontal line) placed over a letter to change its sound. It is common in languages like French, Italian, and Greek.
n. a diacritical mark consisting of a horizontal line placed over a vowel to indicate a long or specific pronunciation. Used in various orthographic systems to distinguish phonemes.
Examples
“The word 'é' has a macron over the 'e'.”
“In many European languages, a macron is used to show that a vowel should be pronounced for a longer duration.”
“The presence of a macron over the 'a' in the word 'ā' indicates a long vowel sound that is essential for the correct pronunciation of the name.”
Examples
simple
“The word 'é' has a macron over the 'e'.”
contextual
“In many European languages, a macron is used to show that a vowel should be pronounced for a longer duration.”
complex
“The presence of a macron over the 'a' in the word 'ā' indicates a long vowel sound that is essential for the correct pronunciation of the name.”
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μακρόν (makrón), neuter form of μακρός (makrós, “long”) (English macro-).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.