hyphen
French, noun/i.fɛn/
hyphen is a French masculine noun meaning “old symbol with the shape of a curved stroke, formerly used in French instead of the modern hyphen, with the same function” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Trait en forme d’arc renversé indiquant la réunion de deux mots en un seul composé”.
What does hyphen mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineold symbol with the shape of a curved stroke, formerly used in French instead of the modern hyphen, with the same function
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Trait en forme d’arc renversé indiquant la réunion de deux mots en un seul composé.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of hyphen
- hyphens plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce hyphen?
- /i.fɛn/
- \i.fɛn\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is hyphen in French?
hyphen appears about once in every 10 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).