apostrophe: [17] Apostrophe comes originally from the Greek phrase prosōidiā apóstrophos, literally ‘accent of turning away’, hence, a mark showing where a letter or sound has been omitted. Apóstrophos itself was derived from the compound verb apostréphein, formed from the prefix apo- ‘away’ and the verb stréphein ‘turn’ (related to the second element of catastrophe [16], whose Greek original meant literally ‘overturning’). English acquired the word via French and Latin. => catastrophe[apostrophe etymology, apostrophe origin, 英语词源]