n. A short, straight, horizontal diacritical mark (¯) placed over any of various letters. It usually is used to indicate that the pronunciation of the vowel is long, in Mandarin pinyin (Chinese), it indicates the first tone, e.g. chūzūchē.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A short, straight, horizontal mark [-], placed over vowels to denote that they are to be pronounced with a long sound; as, ā, in dāme; ē, in sēam, etc.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. In grammar, a short horizontal line placed over a vowel to show that it is long in quantity, or, as in English, has a “long” sojnd: opposed to the breve, or mark of a short vowel.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. a diacritical mark (-) placed above a vowel to indicate a long sound
Word Usage
"Now I know that the long mark is called a macron and the short mark is called a breve."