hyphen
UK[ˈhaɪ.fən]US[ˈhaɪ.fən]
n
A short dash (-) used to join words or parts of words, or to show that a word has been divided at the end of a line.
Etymology
The word 'hyphen' entered English in the early 17th century via Latin, originating from the Greek word 'huphen', meaning 'together'. This Greek term was itself a compound of 'hupo' (under) and 'hen' (one), literally conveying the sense of 'under one' or 'into one'. The term was used by Greek grammarians to denote a mark joining two words or syllables that were to be pronounced as one unit. Over time, the literal meaning faded, and the word came to refer specifically to the punctuation mark itself, which visually represents that joining function.
Analysis
The word 'hyphen' is a simplex loanword from Greek. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English spelling.
Examples
Use a hyphen to connect compound modifiers before a noun, as in "a well-known author".
The word "mother-in-law" contains two hyphens.
When writing by hand, you can hyphenate a long word at the end of a line.