Macron
/ˈmækrɒn/noun
A diacritic mark (¯) placed over a vowel to indicate that it is long or pronounced for an extended duration.
Did you know?Ancient Greek grammarians used the concept of length to distinguish vowel sounds, and the macron’s name comes from the Greek word for “long.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mak- / *makro-
“Long or thin; a reconstructed root associated with extension in length.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μακρός (makrós)
“Long, tall, or far-reaching.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μακρόν (makrón)
“The neuter form of “long,” later used as a grammatical term for a long syllable or vowel.”
Late Antiquity
Greek
μακρόν
“A technical term in grammatical discussions of vowel quantity and long sounds.”
19th Century
English
macron
“A mark used by linguists and classical scholars to indicate vowel length.”
Modern English
English
macron
“The horizontal bar placed over a letter to signal a long vowel or related pronunciation distinction.”
Explore more surprising origins