# hyphen

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhaɪ.fən/ · frequency rank #44,854

## Definitions
1. The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
2. Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.
3. Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.
4. Someone who belongs to a marginalized subgroup, and can therefore described by a hyphenated term, such as "German-American", "female-academic", etc.

## Etymology
From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ὑφέν (huphén, “together”), contracted from ὑφ’ ἕν (huph’ hén, “under one”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).

## Easily confused with
- **hype** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hype-vs-hyphen)
- **hyped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hyped-vs-hyphen)
- **hymen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hymen-vs-hyphen)
- **happen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/happen-vs-hyphen)

## Common misspellings (10)
`hhyphen`, `hpyhen`, `hyhpen`, `hypehn`, `hyphenn`, `hyphhen`, `hyphne`, `hypphen`, `hyyphen`, `yhphen`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hyphen