Standard Lemma guide

hyphenation

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • hī'fənā′shən
  • /ˌhaɪfəˈneɪʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AY2 F AH0 N EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The inclusion of hyphens; especially, the correct locations of hyphens.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Print the article without hyphenation if you're not sure where to put them.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

connecting syllables and words by hyphens

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: punctuation

3

noun

Meaning 3

division of a word especially at the end of a line on a page

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: word division

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: division

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Ancient Greek ῠ̔πό (hŭpó) Ancient Greek ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-) Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḗm Proto-Indo-European *sémsder. Proto-Hellenic *hens Ancient Greek εἷς, μῐ́ᾰ, ἕν (heîs, mĭ́ă, hén) Ancient Greek ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén) Ancient Greek ῠ̔φέν (hŭphén)bor. Late Latin hyphenlbor. English hyphen Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English hyphenation From hyphen + -ation.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: տողադարձ (toġadarj) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Bengali: হাইফেন (haiphen) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Bulgarian: пренасяне (prenasjane) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Bulgarian: сричкопренасяне (sričkoprenasjane) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Czech: dělení slov — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Dutch: woordafbreking — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Dutch: woordsplitsing — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Dutch: splitsing in lettergrepen — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Finnish: tavutus — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • French: césure — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Georgian: გადატანა (gadaṭana) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • German: Silbentrennung — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • German: Worttrennung — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • German: Bindestrichschreibung — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Greek: συλλαβισμός (syllavismós) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Hungarian: elválasztás — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Hungarian: kötőjelezés — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Hungarian: kötőjeles írás — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Indonesian: pemenggalan kata — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Italian: sillabazione — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Italian: compitazione — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Kazakh: тасымал (tasymal) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Latin: hyphenātiō — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Polish: dzielenie wyrazów — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Portuguese: hifenização — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Portuguese: hifenação — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Russian: перено́с (perenós) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Russian: слогоделе́ние (slogodelénije) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Russian: расстано́вка перено́сов (rasstanóvka perenósov) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Russian: разби́вка по слога́м (razbívka po slogám) — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Slovak: delenie slov — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Spanish: silabación — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Spanish: guionización — inclusion and location of hyphens
  • Tagalog: palagitlingan — inclusion and location of hyphens