apostrophe
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
apostrophe1 /əˈpɒstrəfi/
▶noun a punctuation mark (') used to indicate either possession (e.g. Harry's book) or the omission of letters or numbers (e.g. can't; 1 Jan. '99).
– origin C16: via late L., from Gk apostrophos, from apostrephein ‘turn away’.
usage: Use the apostrophe when indicating possession (Sue's cat) or the omission of letters or numbers (he's gone, 1 Jan. '99). Do not use it to form the plural of ordinary words, as in apple's, or in possessive pronouns such as hers, yours, or theirs. See also usage at its.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
apostrophe2 /əˈpɒstrəfi/
▶noun Rhetoric an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person or personified thing.
– origin C16: via L. from Gk apostrophē ‘turning away’, from apostrephein ‘turn away’.
'apostrophe' also found in these Oxford entries:
