Meanings
plural virgules
- historicalobsoletemediaA medieval punctuation mark similar to the slash ⟨/⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ and used as a scratch comma and caesura mark.
Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.
1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA medieval punctuation mark similar to the slash ⟨/⟩ or pipe ⟨|⟩ and used as a scratch comma and caesura mark.
nounUsed to mark metrical feet.
vertical line
More synonyms by meaning
nouna punctuation mark (‘/’) used to separate related items of information
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinvirgula“twig; scratch comma”
- Middle Frenchvirgule
- Englishvirgule
Borrowed from Middle French virgule, from Latin virgula (“twig; scratch comma”), from virga (“rod, branch”) + -ulus (diminutive suffix). Doublet of virgula.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech lomítko
- lomítkotypographic character
Finnish vinoviiva
- vinoviivatypographic character
Polish ukośnik
- ukośniktypographic character
Spanish barra oblicua
- barra oblicuatypographic character
Cite this entry
virgule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virgule
“virgule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virgule. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “virgule,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virgule.
Source: virgule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.