Meanings
Origin
- Ancient Greekἄφεσις“letting go”
- Englishaphesis
Attested since 1880. Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἄφεσις (áphesis, “letting go”), from ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), from ἀπο- (apo-, “off”) + ἵημι (híēmi, “send forth”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄφεσις
- ἄφεσις (áphesis)loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Bulgarian афере́за
- афере́за (aferéza)loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Esperanto aferezo
- aferezoloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Finnish afeesi
- afeesiloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
French aphérèse
- aphérèseloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Greek αφαίρεση
- αφαίρεση (afaíresi)loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Italian aferesi
- aferesiloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Japanese 語頭母音消失
- 語頭母音消失 (gotō-boin shōshitsu)loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Korean 아페시스
- 아페시스 (apesiseu)loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Portuguese aférese
- aféreseloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Spanish aféresis
- aféresisloss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word
Cite this entry
APA
aphesis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphesis
MLA
“aphesis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphesis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aphesis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aphesis.
Source: aphesis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.