Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe Cyrillic letter Ь/ь (transliterated in English with an apostrophe (’) or prime (′)), which in modern languages using the Cyrillic alphabet serves to denote a soft (palatized) consonant.
More synonyms by meaning
nounThe Cyrillic letter Ь/ь, which in Old Church Slavonic represented a short (or ‘reduced’) front vowel, and in modern languages serves to denote a soft (palatalized) consonant.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Russianмя́гкий знак
- Englishsoft sign
Calque of Russian мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak), from мя́гкий (mjáxkij, “palatal, palatized, soft”) + знак (znak, “mark, sign”).
More words from Russian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ер ма́лък
- ер ма́лък (er málăk)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
Chinese Mandarin 軟音符號 /软音符号
- 軟音符號 /软音符号 (ruǎn yīn fúhào)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
Czech měkký znak
- měkký znakCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Dutch zacht teken
- zacht tekenCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Esperanto mola signo
- mola signoCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Estonian pehmendusmärk
- pehmendusmärkCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Finnish pehmeä merkki, pehmennysmerkki
- pehmeä merkkiCyrillic letter Ь/ь
- pehmennysmerkkiCyrillic letter Ь/ь
French signe mou
- signe mouCyrillic letter Ь/ь
German weiches Zeichen, Weichheitszeichen
- weiches ZeichenCyrillic letter Ь/ь
- WeichheitszeichenCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Greek μαλακό σημείο, «μιάχκιι ζνακ»
- μαλακό σημείο (malakó simeío)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
- «μιάχκιι ζνακ»Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
Italian segno tenue
- segno tenueCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Norwegian Bokmål bløtt tegn
- bløtt tegnCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Polish miękki znak
- miękki znakCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Portuguese sinal suave
- sinal suaveCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Romanian semn moale
- semn moaleCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Russian мя́гкий знак, ерь
- мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
- ерь (jerʹ)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
Slovak mäkký znak
- mäkký znakCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Spanish signo suave, signo blando
- signo suaveCyrillic letter Ь/ь
- signo blandoCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Swedish mjuktecken
- mjukteckenCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Turkish inceltme işareti
- inceltme işaretiCyrillic letter Ь/ь
Ukrainian м'яки́й знак, є́рик
- м'яки́й знак (mʺjakýj znak)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
- є́рик (jéryk)Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with soft sign
Cite this entry
soft sign. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sign
“soft sign.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sign. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soft sign,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sign.
Source: soft sign on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.