Hypodiastole

//ˌhaɪpədaɪˈæstəli// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mark ⟨⸒⟩ in late Classical and Byzantine Greek used as a form of interpunct to show two words should be read separately in situations where they might otherwise be confused with an identically spelled single word.

Etymology

From Latin hypodiastolē, from Ancient Greek ὑποδιαστολή (hupodiastolḗ), from ὑπό (hupó, “under, lower”) + διαστολή (diastolḗ, “separation, distinction”), from διαστέλλω (diastéllō, “separate”), from διά (diá, “through, during”) + στέλλω (stéllō, “order, arrange”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.