di·er·e·sis or di·aer·e·sis (dī-ěrĭ-sĭs)
n. pl. di·er·e·ses (-sēz)
► Linguistics.
■ A mark ( ¨ ) placed over the second of two adjacent vowels to indicate that they are to be pronounced as separate sounds rather than a diphthong, as in naïve.
■ A mark ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel, such as the final vowel in Brontë, to indicate that the vowel is not silent.
► Poetry. A break or pause in a line of verse that occurs when the end of a word and the end of a metrical foot coincide.

[TahlilGaran] American Dictionary ▲

dieresis
[Late Latin diaeresis, from Greek diairesis, from diairein, to divide  : dia-, apart; see dia- + hairein, to take.]

[TahlilGaran] American Dictionary ▲