‐

See also: – [U+2013 EN DASH], - [U+002D HYPHEN-MINUS], − [U+2212 MINUS SIGN], — [U+2014 EM DASH], 一 [U+4E00 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E00], and ⹝ [U+2E5D OBLIQUE HYPHEN]
Category:Character boxes with images#*0000008208
‐ U+2010, ‐
HYPHEN
←
[U+200F] 		General PunctuationCategory:General Punctuation block#*0000008208 ‑ →
[U+2011]
Category:Unspecified script characters#%20
‑ U+2011, ‑
NON-BREAKING HYPHEN
← ‐
[U+2010] 		General PunctuationCategory:General Punctuation block#*0000008209 ‒ →
[U+2012]
Category:Unspecified script characters#%20
­ U+00AD, ­
SOFT HYPHEN
← ¬
[U+00AC] 		Latin-1 SupplementCategory:Latin-1 Supplement block#*0000000173 ® →
[U+00AE]
Category:Unspecified script characters#%20
In N'Ko script, a low hyphen is used to join words, and contrasts with the ASCII hyphen that divides words at line breaks.

Translingual

Punctuation mark

‐ (English name hyphen)Category:Translingual lemmas#‐Category:Translingual punctuation marks#‐Category:Translingual entries with incorrect language header#‐Category:Pages with entries#‐Category:Pages with 4 entries#‐

  1. Separates certain pieces of text.
    1. Separates syllables.
    2. Separates letters to indicate the spelling of a word.
    3. Separates letters to indicate emphasis.
      • 1945 April 30, ad for Listerine shaving cream in LIFE, vol. 18, no. 18, page 7:
        35¢ TUBE LASTS AND L‐A‐S‐T‐S
    4. Splits a word across a line break (called hyphenation).
      Synonym: (dated) ⹝
      We, therefore, the represen‐
      tatives of the United States […]      Category:English terms with usage examples#‐
    5. Marks a point where a morpheme (a suffix, a prefix, etc.) is supposed to be attached to a word.
  2. Connects certain pieces of text.
    1. Connects words in compound terms.
      Synonym: – (“en-dash”)
    2. Connects names in some compound surnames.
    3. Indicates common parts of repeated compounds (called a suspended hyphen).
      nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐centuryCategory:English terms with usage examples#‐
      • 2019, Nthikeng Mohlele, chapter 7, in Illumination: A Novel (in English), Johannesburg: Picador Africa, →ISBN:
        It is not widely known or even suspected that some of my best-loved and -selling recordings owe their existence to Bird’s transcendental soul, a spirit I suspect formed in her mother’s womb and followed her to girl- and womanhood, to my lap and bosom, bed and permanently in my thoughts.
        Category:Translingual terms with quotations#‐
    4. Connects words in some situations, akin to a space.
    5. In dates, connects the year, the month and the day.
      1789‐07‐14 (the date of the first Bastille Day)Category:English terms with usage examples#‐
  3. Indicates stuttering.
  4. Separates the components of a pun.
    This is a cat‐astrophe! (a catastrophe involving cats)Category:English terms with usage examples#‐
  5. Hides letters.
    Synonyms: – (“en-dash”), — (“em-dash”)
    G‐d ― GodCategory:English terms with usage examples#‐

Usage notes

  • The similar-looking hyphen-minus (-) is used more frequently, but is used for many purposes (as a hyphen, minus sign, and dash). The hyphen symbol is therefore more specific.
  • Most text systems consider a hyphen to be a word boundary and a valid point at which to break a line when flowing text. However, this is not always desirable behavior. The non-breaking hyphen looks identical to the regular hyphen, but is not treated as a word boundary.
  • A soft hyphen is generally invisible text character marking a point where hyphenation can occur without forcing a line break in an inconvenient place if the text is later reflowed. For example:

Margaret­Are­You­Grieving­Over­Goldengrove­Unleaving­Leaves­Like­The­Things­Of­Man­You­With­Your­Fresh­Thoughts­Care­For­Can­You­Ah­As­The­Heart­Grows­Older­It­Will­Come­To­Such­Sights­Colder­By­And­By­Nor­Spare­A­Sigh­Though­Worlds­Of­Wanwood­Leafmeal­Lie­And­Yet­You­Will­Weep­And­Know­Why­Now­No­Matter­Child­The­Name­Sorrows­Springs­Are­The­Same­Nor­Mouth­Had­No­Nor­Mind­Expressed­What­Heart­Heard­Of­Ghost­Guessed­It­Is­The­Blight­Man­Was­Born­For­It­Is­Margaret­You­Mourn­For

See also

Punctuation

English

Punctuation mark

‐ (name hyphen)Category:English lemmas#‐Category:English punctuation marks#‐Category:English entries with incorrect language header#‐Category:Pages with entries#‐Category:Pages with 4 entries#‐

  1. Joins the components of compounds.
    1. Joins the components of coordinative compounds, with equal components.
    2. Joins the components of subordinative compounds, with a dominant component or head.
  2. Joins prefixes and suffixes according to stylistic rules, often to avoid confusion in pronunciation or meaning.
    Synonyms: (US) · (“interpunct”), ◌̈ (“diaeresis”)Category:English terms in nonstandard scripts#‐
    ultra‐ambitious (to indicate both aes are pronounced)Category:English terms with usage examples#‐
    I must re‐press the shirt. (to avoid confusion with repress)Category:English terms with usage examples#‐
  3. Connects words in a compound modifier according to various stylistic rules.
  4. (Internet slangCategory:English internet slang#‐) Used as sentence-final punctuation.

Usage notes

  • In American English, compound words are formed more liberally than in British English. Hyphenated compound nouns are also much more common in colloquial American English.

Synonyms

See also

Punctuation

Further reading

Finnish

Punctuation mark

‐Category:Finnish lemmas#‐Category:Finnish punctuation marks#‐Category:Finnish entries with incorrect language header#‐Category:Pages with entries#‐Category:Pages with 4 entries#‐

  1. alternative spelling of -

German

Punctuation mark

‐Category:German lemmas#‐Category:German punctuation marks#‐Category:German entries with incorrect language header#‐Category:Pages with entries#‐Category:Pages with 4 entries#‐

  1. Separates certain pieces of text.
    1. Separates syllables.
    2. Separates letters.
    3. Splits a word across a line break (called hyphenation).
    4. Marks a point where a morpheme (a suffix, a prefix, etc.) is supposed to be attached to a word.
  2. Connects certain pieces of text.
    1. Joins prefixes and suffixes according to stylistic rules, often to avoid confusion in pronunciation or meaning
  3. Indicates stuttering.
  4. Hides letters.

Derived terms

Category:Character boxes with abbreviations Category:Character boxes with images Category:English internet slang Category:English lemmas Category:English punctuation marks Category:English terms in nonstandard scripts Category:English terms with usage examples Category:Finnish lemmas Category:Finnish punctuation marks Category:General Punctuation block Category:German lemmas Category:German punctuation marks Category:German terms with quotations Category:Latin-1 Supplement block Category:Pages with 4 entries Category:Pages with entries Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned Category:Requests for translations of German quotations Category:Translingual lemmas Category:Translingual punctuation marks Category:Translingual terms with quotations Category:Unspecified script characters