— hyphenic /huy fen"ik/ , adj.
/huy"feuhn/ , n.
1. a short line (-) used to connect the parts of a compound word or the parts of a word divided for any purpose.
v.t.
2. hyphenate.
[ 1595-1605; hyphén (adv.) together, deriv. of hyph' hén (prep. phrase), equiv. to hyp ( ó ) under (see HYPO-) + hén, neut. of heîs one ]