umlaut Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel in German to indicate a change in sound
dieresis; diaeresis.

G., from um about + laut sound.

(Philol.) The euphonic modification of a root vowel sound by the influence of a, u, or especially i, in the syllable which formerly followed. ✍ It is peculiar to the Teutonic languages, and was common in Anglo-Saxon. In German the umlauted vowels resulting from a, o, u, followed by old i, are written ä, ö, ü, or ae, oe, ue; as, männer or maenner, men, from mann, man. Examples of forms resulting from umlaut in English are geese pl. of goose, men pl. of man, etc.