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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Apostrophe \A*pos"tro*phe\, n. [(1) L., fr. Gr. ? a turning
away, fr. ? to turn away; ? from ? to turn. (2) F., fr. L.
apostrophus apostrophe, the turning away or omitting of a
letter, Gr. ?.]
1. (Rhet.) A figure of speech by which the orator or writer
suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his
discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some
person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's
apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of
"Paradise Lost."
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2. (Gram.) The contraction of a word by the omission of a
letter or letters, which omission is marked by the
character ['] placed where the letter or letters would
have been; as, call'd for called.
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3. The mark ['] used to denote that a word is contracted (as
in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as a sign of
the possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat,
boys' hats. In the latter use it originally marked the
omission of the letter e.
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Note: The apostrophe is used to mark the plural of figures
and letters; as, two 10's and three a's. It is also
employed to mark the close of a quotation.
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