noun
apostrophe
uh-POS-truh-fee
noun
1
The punctuation mark ( ' ) used to show possession or mark missing letters in a contraction.
"Remember the apostrophe in "don't" — it stands for the missing "o.""
"She corrected the sign's misplaced apostrophe in "CD's for sale.""
2
A literary device in which a speaker addresses someone or something absent, dead, or non-human.
"The poem uses apostrophe, speaking directly to the moon as if it could hear."
How to Use Apostrophe
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishUsually the punctuation mark used in contractions and possessives; less commonly, a literary technique of addressing something that can't respond.
Common mistake
The classic error is the "greengrocer's apostrophe" — wrongly adding one to plain plurals, like "banana's for sale."
Common pairings
possessive apostrophe
misplaced apostrophe
Word Forms
apostrophes plural, apostrophes plural
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Fill the Gap
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Remember the _____ in "don't" — it stands for the missing "o."
Etymology
From Greek apostrophos, "turning away," from apostrephein, "to turn away" — the punctuation sense comes from the mark showing where a letter has been "turned away," or omitted.