diaeresis

1. (linguistics, prosody)Examples: "Synaeresis, the opposite of Diaëresis, is the throwing of two syllables into one; as, Seest for seëst. Looked for look-ed."Antonyms: synaeresiscountableuncountable

2. (linguistics, prosody)Examples: "Diæreſis is vvhen tvvo points ouer a vovvell diuide it from another vovvel, as bouë, queuë, read bou-e, queu-e, not bo-ue, que-ue."; "The Diæresis is used to divide a diphthong into two syllables; as, Creätor."; "An 85-year injustice has been rectified at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey with the corrected spelling of one of the greatest of all literary names. Reader, it is finally Brontë, not Bronte. An amended memorial to Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë was unveiled on Thursday with added diaereses (two dots) that ensure people pronounce it with two syllables. As if it rhymed with Monty, not font. The memorial was installed in 1939 and, for whatever reason, came without the diaereses that the Brontës used."Synonyms: trema, umlautAntonyms: synaeresiscountableuncountable

3. (linguistics, prosody)countableuncountable

4. (figurative, rare) A division, a separation.countablefigurativelyrareuncountable

5. (prosody) A natural break in rhythm when a word ends at the end of a metrical foot in a line of verse.countableuncountable

6. (surgery, archaic) An act of separating body parts or tissues which are normally together.Examples: "There are four^([sic]) manners of performing the Diæreſis: viz. by Cutting, Pricking, Tearing, Dravving, and Burning."archaiccountableuncountable