Skip to main content
diacritical

diacritical

1 9.0
Showing small details that help tell things apart
  • adjective
  • /ˌdaɪəˈkrɪtɪkəl/
: diacrítico
  • Diacritical power structures the world in the same manner, namely, by means of divisions and boundaries that produce and maintain distinct and separate identities.
  • diacritical marks
  • diacritical power

Examples

  • This example demonstrates the script-dependent or writing-system-dependent nature of rendering combining diacritical marks.

    Blog text (12)
  • I have chosen to omit diacritical marks for Sanskrit terms in order to make this essay more legible to nonspecialist readers

    Academic text (2008)
  • It is also rare to find diacritical marks on the words.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Diacritical power is the ability to make significant distinctions.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The differentiating diacritical marks established by each group then confirm the nature of the group's social interaction.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Not sure what the extra two dots/diacritical marks (I presume) are.

    Blog text (27)
  • I am grateful to Olabiye Yai for his generous assistance with the Yoruba diacritical markings for my articles in this issue.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The diacritical marks on the signs helped non-native speakers understand the correct pronunciation.

  • In linguistics, diacritical symbols play an essential role in indicating the tone and meaning of a word.

  • Using diacritical accents can drastically alter the meaning of words in languages like Spanish and Portuguese.

Synonyms

discriminatory
vsdiacritical
1 6.8

Able to notice small differences between similar things

serves to mark differences in general rather than fine detail
discriminable
vsdiacritical
1 8.5

Clearly different so you can tell it apart from similar things

serves to make differences clear rather than merely being detectable
contrastive
vsdiacritical
1 6.8

Showing a clear difference between two things to make them easier to see

serves to show differences generally rather than stressing comparison
diacritic
vsdiacritical
9.5

Helps show a difference between things

is the same meaning but used as an alternate word form

Compounds

diacritical mark
  • Specialized
1 6.4

A small sign written on a letter to show how to say it or to change its meaning

Surface Forms

diacritical positive

Morphology

diacritical = diacritic (transparent) = diacritic + al

The word is a standard suffixation from diacritic plus -al, and the adjective meaning is directly related to the base.

Etymology

Diacritical comes from parts that mean 'through' (dia-) and 'to judge' (crit), the same crit you see in critic. So, a diacritical detail is something that helps 'separate' or show differences between things.