tilde Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a diacritical mark (~) placed over the letter n in Spanish to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel in Portuguese to indicate nasalization

WordNet

Til"de noun
Etymology
Sp., fr. L. titulus a superscription, title, token, sign. See Title, n.
Definitions
  1. The accentual mark placed over n, and sometimes over l, in Spanish words [thus, ñ, <il;], indicating that, in pronunciation, the sound of the following vowel is to be preceded by that of the initial, or consonantal, y.

Webster 1913