END-OF-LINE DIVISION

The bold periods within entry words indicate division points at which a hyphen may be put at the end of a line of print or writing. Thus the noun pos.si.bil.i.ty may be ended on one line with:

pos-

possi-

possibil-

possibili-

and continued on the next with:

sibility

bility

ity

ty

Bold periods are not shown after a single initial letter or before a single terminal letter because printers seldom cut off a single letter:

Main Entry: aswirl
Function: adjective

Main Entry: mouthy
Function: adjective

Main Entry: idea
Function: noun

Nor are they shown at second and succeeding homographs unless these differ among themselves:

Main Entry: ¹re.form Function: verb Main Entry: ²reform Function: noun Main Entry: ³reform Function: adjective

Main Entry: ¹min.ute Function: noun Main Entry: ²minute Function: transitive verb Main Entry: ³mi.nute Function: adjective

There are acceptable alternative end-of-line divisions just as there are acceptable variant spellings and variant pronunciations. It is, for example, all but impossible to produce a convincing argument that either of the divisions aus.ter.i.ty, au.ster.i.ty is better than the other. But space cannot be taken for entries like aus.ter.i.ty or au.ster.i.ty, and au.s.ter.i.ty would likely be confusing to many. No more than one division is, therefore, shown for an entry in this dictionary.

Many words have two or more common pronunciation variants, and the same end-of-line division is not always appropriate for each of them. The division pi.an.ist, for example, best fits the variant \pE-'a-nist\ whereas the division pi.a.nist best fits the variant \'pE-&-nist\. In instances like this, the division falling farther to the left is used, regardless of the order of the pronunciations:

Main Entry: pi.a.nist
Pronunciation: pE-'a-nist, 'pE-&-nist

 

[Back to Explanatory Notes main page] [Back to Help main page]