cedilla

From Spanish cedilla (“little zed”), c. 1600. In Spanish a small z was formerly written after or below the letter c to indicate the soft pronunciation.

• enPR: sə-dĭʹlə, IPA^(key): /səˈdɪlə/

cedilla (plural cedillas)

1. (orthography) In the spelling of Catalan, French, Portuguese and some other languages, a mark (¸) sometimes placed under the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced /s/ rather than /k/, as in French menaçant and Portuguese almoço, and also used in various other languages to change the sounds of other letters.

Sometimes retained in words which have been adopted into English, specifically from French, such as facade/façade.

• ç
• ogonek

• cleidal

Diminutive of Old Spanish ceda (“letter Z”) (Spanish zeta), from ceda + -illa.

• (Castilian) IPA^(key): /θeˈdiʎa/, [θeˈðiʎa]
• (Latin America) IPA^(key): /seˈdiɟ͡ʝa/, [seˈðiʝa]

cedilla f (plural cedillas)

1. Name of the letter ç.
2. (orthography) cedilla

• English: cedilla
• French: cédille
• Portuguese: cedilha