aphaeresis

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A form of apheresis — Elision, suppression, or complete loss of a letter or sound (syllable) from the beginning of a word, such as the development of special from especial.

Similar
apheresis
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounaphaeresis (countable and uncountable, plural aphaereses)

plural aphaereses

  1. CanadaUKalternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of apheresis.

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(linguistics) omission at the beginning of a word as in ‘coon’ for ‘raccoon’ or ‘till’ for ‘until’

Similar
apheresis
Broader
omissiondeletion
Also see
apheresis

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

aphaeresis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphaeresis

MLA

“aphaeresis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphaeresis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aphaeresis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphaeresis.

Source: aphaeresis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.