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hyphen

Also known as -, bar, ‐

The hyphen ' is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation'.

AI overview

A hyphen is a small punctuation mark that connects words together or breaks up the syllables within a single word. It matters because it helps clarify meaning in writing—for example, distinguishing between different phrases or making compound words easier to read.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Punctuation mark.mark: ‐
Punctuation mark.name: Hyphen
Punctuation mark.variant1: -
Punctuation mark.caption1: Hyphen-minus
Punctuation mark.variant2: ‑
Punctuation mark.caption2: Non-breaking hyphen

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Hyphens.svg

Show 4 more facts

Unicode character: -
Commons category: Hyphens
hashtag: -
code: -....-

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~29 min read

Article

26 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Use in English
Separating
Justification and line-wrapping
Prefixes and suffixes
Syllabification and spelling
Joining
Compound modifiers
Object–verbal-noun compounds
Personal names
Other compounds
Suspended hyphens
Other uses
Varied meanings
Use in computing
Hyphen-minuses
Soft and hard hyphens
Nonbreaking hyphens
"Unicode hyphen"
Use in date notation
Unicode
See also
Notes
References
External links

The hyphen ' is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation'.

The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with the minus sign , which is also wider and usually drawn a little higher to match the crossbar in the plus sign .