umlaut
1 synonym for umlaut, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The pair of dots placed over a vowel, as in German ö or ü, showing that it is pronounced as a front vowel.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
vowel mutation
How to use umlaut
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
an umlaut over the o
add an umlaut
German umlaut
a letter with an umlaut
In everyday use it names the dots; in linguistics it also names a historical sound change.
Etymology
English borrowed the word from German in the 19th century. The German word is built from um-, meaning around or re-, and Laut, meaning sound.
Full origin of umlaut →Frequently asked questions
What is an umlaut?
An umlaut is a mark of two dots over a vowel, as in ö. The word also names a sound change in which a vowel shifts towards a following vowel.
Is an umlaut the same as a diaeresis?
They look the same but do different jobs, so careful writers treat them as different things. The diacritic itself, as opposed to its function, is called a trema.
What is the plural of umlaut?
The usual plural is umlauts. Umlaute, following German, is also recorded but is quite rare.
