(lexicography)Thebreve, used to mark a vowel letter as having its 'short' sound:⟨ă⟩ /æ/,⟨ĕ⟩ /ɛ/,⟨ĭ⟩ /ɪ/,⟨ŏ⟩ /ɒ/,⟨ŭ⟩ /ʌ/.
(poetry)Placed over a vowel letter to indicate that the syllable is short. Also used alone to mark a syllable without stress in a metrical foot or verse: see⟨˘⟩.