1. A mark (¨) placed over a vowel to indicate that it is pronounced separately from an adjacent vowel, as in the word 'naïve'.
Usage: Also called a diaeresis in some contexts.; Common in English borrowed from French and other languages.
2. In poetry and classical meter, the coincidence of a metrical division with a word boundary.
Usage: Technical term used in prosody and literary analysis.; Rare in modern usage.

Examples

• The word 'naïve' uses a dieresis over the 'i' to show it is pronounced separately.
• In 'Zoë,' the dieresis indicates that the two vowels are pronounced as separate syllables.
• The dieresis mark helps readers understand the correct pronunciation of borrowed words.
• Without the dieresis, 'reelect' might be mispronounced as a single syllable.
• Poets use dieresis to analyze the metrical structure of classical verse.