apostrophe 1
— apostrophic /ap'euh strof"ik, -stroh"fik/ , adj.
/euh pos"treuh fee/ , n.
the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.'s, 3's.
[ 1580-90; 2 ), r. earlier apostrophus MF) apóstrophos ( prosoidía ) eliding (mark), lit., (mark) of turning away, verbid of apostréphein to turn away, equiv. to apo- APO- + stréphein to turn; see STROPHE ]
apostrophe 2
— apostrophic /ap'euh strof"ik, -stroh"fik/ , adj.
/euh pos"treuh fee/ , n. Rhet.
a digression in the form of an address to someone not present, or to a personified object or idea, as "O Death, where is thy sting?"
[ 1525-35; apostrophé a turning away, equiv. to apostroph- (verbid of apostréphein; see APOSTROPHE 1 ) + -e n. suffix ]