What does diereses mean?
Diereses is the plural of diaeresis, a small but precise piece of typographic machinery: two dots placed over a vowel to signal that it forms its own syllable rather than blending with a neighboring vowel. The classic example is naïve, where the dots over the 'i' tell English readers to say 'nah-EEV' rather than rhyme the word with 'knave'; other familiar cases include Chloë, Zoë, and Aïda. In American publishing the device survives chiefly at The New Yorker, which famously retains diereses in words like 'coöperate' and 'reëlect', while most contemporary style guides have abandoned it except in established loanwords. The term belongs to the vocabulary of editors, linguists, and typography enthusiasts, and should not be confused with the Germanic umlaut, which marks a change in vowel quality instead of a syllable break.
nounThe plural of 'diaeresis': the two dots placed over a vowel (as in naïve or coöperate) to indicate that it is pronounced as a separate syllable rather than merged with an adjacent vowel.
- Plural of diaeresis: the diacritical mark (¨) placed over the second of two adjacent vowels to show they are pronounced separately, as in naïve or Chloë.
"The New Yorker's style guide still calls for diereses in words like 'reëlect' and 'coördinate'."
"Careful typesetters know that words borrowed from French often require diereses to preserve their original pronunciation."
"She added diereses over both vowels in 'Aïda' so readers wouldn't blend them into one sound."
'Diereses' is already the plural form of 'diaeresis'; the singular is 'diaeresis' (or 'dieresis').
"French loanwords such as naïve traditionally take diereses over the second vowel."
That innocent-looking pair of dots in 'naïve' has a name of its own — and it's pluralized like 'crisis', becoming 'diereses'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of diereses
Diaeresis comes from Greek diairesis, meaning 'division' or 'separation', derived from diairein, 'to divide apart' — itself formed from dia ('through, apart') combined with hairein ('to take'). The word entered English scholarly usage in the early 17th century via Latin and was first applied to the division of a poetic line, later narrowing to the diacritical mark that divides vowels into separate syllables. It shares its Greek root with 'eclectic' and 'heresy', both ultimately tracing back to hairein.
Related word forms
How diereses is actually used
Formal and largely confined to typography, linguistics, and careful editorial practice; most modern English style guides omit the mark entirely outside loanwords. The spelling 'dieresis' (one 'a') is common in American English, while 'diaeresis' reflects the Greek-derived British spelling.
Easily confused with diereses
An umlaut signals a change in vowel quality (as in German schön), while a diaeresis marks that a vowel is sounded separately.
'Diaeresis' is the singular form referring to one such mark; 'diereses' is its plural, used for more than one mark.