Apostrophe vs. Omission

(orthography) The text character ’, which serves as a punctuation mark in various languages and as a diacritical mark in certain rare contexts.

(rhetoric) A sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially absent.

A figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of "Paradise Lost."

The contraction of a word by the omission of a letter or letters, which omission is marked by the character ['] placed where the letter or letters would have been; as, call'd for called.

The mark ['] used to denote that a word is contracted (as in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as a sign of the possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat, boys' hats. In the latter use it originally marked the omission of the letter e.

address to an absent or imaginary person

the mark (') used to indicate the omission of one or more letters from a printed word

The apostrophe (' or ’) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, it is used for four purposes: The marking of the omission of one or more letters, e.g.

The act of omitting.

The act of neglecting to perform an action one has an obligation to do.

Something deleted or left out.

Example: ‘The suspicious omissions in the new edition of the book attracted claims of censorship.’;

Something not done or neglected.

(grammar) The shortening of a word or phrase, using an apostrophe ( ' ) to replace the missing letters, often used to approximate the sound of speech or a specific dialect.

The act of omitting; neglect or failure to do something required by propriety or duty.

Example: ‘The most natural division of all offenses is into those of omission and those of commission.’;

That which is omitted or is left undone.

a mistake resulting from neglect

something that has been omitted;

Example: ‘she searched the table for omissions’;

any process whereby sounds are left out of spoken words or phrases

neglecting to do something; leaving out or passing over something

someone or something that has been left out or excluded

Example: ‘there are glaring omissions in the report’;

the action of excluding or leaving out someone or something

Example: ‘the omission of recent publications from his bibliography’;

a failure to fulfil a moral or legal obligation

Example: ‘to pay compensation for a wrongful act or omission’;