Meanings
plural ogoneks
- communicationsA hook-shaped diacritical mark ⟨◌̨⟩ attached underneath a vowel, typically to indicate nasalization, as in Ąą, Ęę, Įį, Ǫǫ or Ųų.
1 more example
The pangram “Pchnąć w tę łódź jeża lub ośm skrzyń fig” (To push a hedgehog or eight boxes of figs into that boat) highlights a few of the language-specific diacritical marks, such as L with stroke (ł) and ogoneks (ą, ę) necessary to write in Polish—demonstrating how a writing system can accommodate many languages with thorough character inclusion.
2023, Mia Cinelli, Giving Type Meaning: Context and Craft in Typography, Bloomsbury, →ISBN
Origin
- Proto-Slavic*o-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰen-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰónos
- Proto-Slavic*gonъ
- Proto-Slavic*ogonъ
- Polishogon
- Polishogonek
- Englishogonek
Borrowed from Polish ogonek, from ogon (“tail”) + -ek.
More words from Polish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 反尾形符
- 反尾形符 (fǎnwěixíngfú)diacritical mark
Czech ocásek
- ocásekdiacritical mark
Danish ogonek
- ogonekdiacritical mark
Dutch ogonek
- ogonekdiacritical mark
Esperanto ogoneko
- ogonekodiacritical mark
Finnish ogonek, häntä
- ogonekdiacritical mark
- häntädiacritical mark
French ogonek
- ogonekdiacritical mark
German Ogonek
- Ogonekdiacritical mark
Hebrew זנב
- זנב (zanáv)diacritical mark
Hungarian ogonek, horog
- ogonekdiacritical mark
- horogdiacritical mark
- jobb farokdiacritical mark
- farkincadiacritical mark
Italian ogonek, codetta
- ogonekdiacritical mark
- codettadiacritical mark
- uncinodiacritical mark
Japanese オゴネク
- オゴネク (ogoneku)diacritical mark
Korean 오고넥
- 오고넥 (ogonek)diacritical mark
Lithuanian nosinė
- nosinėdiacritical mark
Norwegian kvist
- kvistdiacritical mark
Persian اگنک
- اگنک (ogonek)diacritical mark
Polish ogonek
- ogonekdiacritical mark
Russian ого́нэк, хво́стик
- ого́нэк (ogónɛk)diacritical mark
- хво́стик (xvóstik)diacritical mark
Slovak nožička
- nožičkadiacritical mark
Spanish ogonek, colita
- ogonekdiacritical mark
- colitadiacritical mark
Swedish svans
- svansdiacritical mark
Ukrainian ого́нек, хво́стик
- ого́нек (ohónek)diacritical mark
- хво́стик (xvóstyk)diacritical mark
Cite this entry
ogonek. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ogonek
“ogonek.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ogonek. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ogonek,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ogonek.
Source: ogonek on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.