What does caron mean?
A caron is a diacritical mark that looks like a small, downward-pointing wedge (ˇ), essentially an upside-down circumflex. It appears above letters in several European writing systems, most prominently Czech and Slovak — where it gave rise to characters such as š, č, and ž — as well as in Lithuanian, Latvian, and various scholarly transliteration schemes. Its function is phonetic: it signals that a letter represents a modified sound, often a hushed or palatalized consonant, so that 's' with a caron sounds like English 'sh'. In casual speech, people sometimes call it a 'hat' or describe it simply as an inverted circumflex, while Czech speakers commonly use their own word, háček ('little hook'). The mark is a fixture of typography and computing, where rendering it correctly matters for spelling names and words from Central Europe accurately.
nounA diacritical mark (ˇ) shaped like an inverted circumflex, placed over letters in some languages — such as Czech, Slovak, and Lithuanian — and in romanization systems to indicate a modified sound.
- The diacritical mark ˇ (inverted circumflex) used over letters in languages such as Czech, Slovak, Croatian, and Lithuanian, and in scholarly transliteration, typically indicating a palatalized, hushed, or otherwise modified consonant sound.
"The Czech name Hašek is written with a caron over the s."
"To type the Czech word 'děkuji' correctly, you need a caron over the d."
"In the romanization of many Slavic names, the caron signals a sound English speakers often render as 'sh' or 'ch'."
Regular plural formation; used when discussing multiple instances of the mark across different letters or texts.
"Czech orthography employs carons on several letters, including c, s, and z."
Despite looking like an upside-down hat, the caron has no agreed origin for its own name — even lexicographers shrug at where 'caron' came from.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caron
The origin of the word 'caron' itself is uncertain; it appears to have arisen in American printing and typesetting circles in the twentieth century, possibly by analogy with 'caret', though no derivation has been firmly established. The mark it names is far older and is best known by its Czech name, háček, meaning 'little hook', reflecting its central role in Czech orthography since the reforms associated with Jan Hus's orthographic tradition and later standardization. Because the term is a typographic coinage rather than an inherited word, it has no true cognates.
How caron is actually used
The word 'caron' is primarily used in typography, linguistics, and computing contexts. In Central European scholarship the native term 'háček' (Czech for 'little hook') is frequently preferred. The mark itself is distinct from the similar-looking breve.
Easily confused with caron
The circumflex (^) curves upward like a roof, while the caron (ˇ) is its downward-pointing inversion.
The breve (˘) is a shallow curved cup open at the top, whereas the caron is a pointed V-like mark.