Definition
macron
noun
- a diacritical mark (¯) placed over a vowel to indicate that it has a long sound
Usage: linguistics; typography
Examples
- The teacher explained that the macron over the ‘a’ in ‘māke’ shows it’s pronounced with a long vowel sound.
- In Latin dictionaries, macrons help students know how to pronounce vowels correctly.
- The word ‘rōmaji’ uses macrons to indicate long vowels in Japanese romanization.
- Without the macron, it’s difficult to distinguish between short and long vowel sounds in some languages.
- The typography software automatically places macrons over designated vowels.
- Students learning classical languages often struggle with when to use macrons in their writing.