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Added 10 October 2026

hyphenate

/ˈhaɪf(ə)ˌneɪt/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hyphenate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

to break a word at the end of a line according to the hyphenation rules by adding a hyphen on the end of the line.
to join words or syllables with a hyphen.
you have to hyphenate his surname as it's double-barrelled

noun

A person or object with multiple duties, abilities or characteristics, such as "writer-director", "actor-model", or "singer-songwriter".
A person whose ethnicity is a multi-word hyphenated term, such as "African-American".

Origin

Ancient Greek εἷς, μῐ́ᾰ, ἕν (heîs, mĭ́ă, hén) Ancient Greek ῠ̔φ’ ἕν (hŭph’ hén) From hyphen + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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