cedilla Meaning & Definition
What Does Cedilla Mean?
Cedilla is used as a noun meaning A diacritical mark ⟨¸⟩ placed beneath a letter to modify its pronunciation, used in the orthographies of many languages, such as under c in Catalan, French and Portuguese to indicate /s/ rather than /k/ (e.g. Catalan força, French façade, Portuguese açaí) and in other languages to modify the pronunciation of the letter c (e.g. from /d͡ʒ/ to /t͡ʃ/ in Turkish) or of other letters. It can also mean Synonym of cauda.
Cedilla: Key Facts
| Part of speech | noun |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /səˈdɪlə/ |
| Plural | cedillas |
Cedilla Definition (Noun)
- A diacritical mark ⟨¸⟩ placed beneath a letter to modify its pronunciation, used in the orthographies of many languages, such as under c in Catalan, French and Portuguese to indicate /s/ rather than /k/ (e.g. Catalan força, French façade, Portuguese açaí) and in other languages to modify the pronunciation of the letter c (e.g. from /d͡ʒ/ to /t͡ʃ/ in Turkish) or of other letters.
- Synonym of cauda
Noun
- In the spelling of Catalan, French, Portuguese and some other languages, a mark (¸) sometimes placed under the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced /s/ rather than /k/, as in Catalan força, French menaçant, and Portuguese almoço, and also used in various other languages to change the sounds of other letters.
Synonyms of Cedilla
The source does not list synonyms for this entry.
Cedilla synonyms and antonyms →Word Forms & Grammar
cedilla (plural cedillas or cedillae)
Words That Rhyme With Cedilla
Origin of Cedilla
Borrowed from Spanish cedilla (literally “little zed”), c. 1600. In Spanish cedilla referred to the letter ⟨Ç⟩, which had evolved from ⟨Ꝣ⟩, a Visigothic form of the letter Z (called a Z with copete); hence the name. The lower part of ⟨Ç⟩ (which came to be reinterpreted as a diacritical mark under a C) is the remnant of the original Z, after it gradually reduced in size; whereas the upper part was originally just an ornamentation over the Z (which increased in size until it resembled letter C, and finally came to be identified with this letter).