/duy'euh krit"ik/ , n.
1. Also called diacritical mark . a mark, point, or sign added or attached to a letter or character to distinguish it from another of similar form, to give it a particular phonetic value, to indicate stress, etc., as a cedilla, tilde, circumflex, or macron.
adj.
2. diacritical.
3. diagnostic.
[ 1670-80; diakritikós distinctive, equiv. to dia- DIA- + kritikós; see CRITIC ]